Captain Universe
by sinisteruto
Summary: An alternate reality where Scarlett Witch Wanda Maximoff, having developed her powers, kidnaps Captain America and takes him to one of Hydra's secret hideouts, conducting a number of experiments on him. They return two years later as a couple, but is Steve the same guy that he was two years ago? Is he still the good guy or has Wanda brainwashed him? Wanda/Steve pairing.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer** : I do not own the Avengers or any other series that I might use for inspiration.

 **Author Notes:**

 **Okay guys this will be a slight crossover with DC, in other words, there will be some DC characters appearing here and I will use in particular the tv series like Gotham, Arrow, Flash, Legends of Tommorrow, and maybe the movie suicide squad for characters etc.**

 **The characters from these series might have slightly different backgrounds and stuff like that, and Bruce Wayne from Gotham will be a little older, but still a teenager for example.**

 **I understand there is some sort of Marvel/DC rivalry amongst fans, being that there are hardcore DC fans who absolutely hate Marvel and vice versa, so if you cannot stomach this union, I understand.**

 **There will be some other minor crossovers, but nothing significant enough to be of concern, some of you might not even notice.**

 **Captain America and Scarlett Witch are the main characters, and they are the paring. Thank you everyone and please have an open mind and try to enjoy the story for what it is.**

 _ **Is it Love or Obsession, Does It Really Matter**_

 _My name is Steve Rogers, but most people know me as Captain America, a scientific experimental soldier turned hero of the United States Of America, and also the Captain of the Avengers, a team of super heroes dedicated to fighting crime against humans, by humans, mutants, enhanced humans, meta humans, aliens, and even the Gods themselves. I did my job and I did it very well since I came out of the ice, however, eighteen months ago I dissappeared off of the face of the earth, not intentionally mind you, but because I was kidnapped, by one of my own trusted teammates, Wanda Maximoff, or otherwise known as The Scarlet Witch._

 _For the first six months since I was kidnapped, I didn't even know that I had been abducted, because I spent the whole time period unconscious as Wanda did a number of experiments on my body without my knowledge or consent. She'd been developing her powers, under my supervision and guidance, since we defeated Ultron and his army of robots, and she had grown by leaps and bounds, to the point that it started to appear as if there were no limits to her powers, which is probably why it was so easy for her to not only abduct Captain America, but to do so without so much as a fly on the wall noticing until it was too late._

 _Nevertheless, one of the abilities she developed, apart from her evolution from levitating and throwing objects telekinetically to being able to outright fly, was the ability to read minds in detail and download large quantities of said information into her mind. She used this ability to gather intel from the organisation that experimented on her and then used said information to find another one of their bases, a base that was located in an isolated island where they were making better and stronger super soldiers, in other words, better versions of me._

 _When she arrived for the first time at that base, she found out that they had made five of those soldiers, and that they were all much faster, much stronger, and much more durable and intelligent as compared to me. She immediately downloaded all the information inside the minds of all the soldiers and scientists in that base before killing each and every one of them. Thankfully, the super soldiers had been put to sleep inside a gas chamber that was made for each one of them, so she didn't have to fight against them._

 _This whole time, I knew that Wanda cared deeply for me, and I cared deeply for her too, but I never knew just how deep her feelings for me were. I thought we had a sort of sibling type of relationship, but her feelings for me were much deeper than that, she was in love with me, crazy in love with me, and she feared for my life every time I went on a mission with the Avengers. The way she saw it was that, Hulk is indestructable, Thor is a God, Falcon fights from out of range most of the time, and Iron Man and War Machine have advanced technology that is continuously evolving and getting better all the time._

 _However, what did I have? I was the one running head on with nothing but a metal shield as my weapon, the most vulnerable of the lot and yet the one facing the most danger and fighting inside the trenches. It worried her to no end and fed on her already high anxiety about losing loved ones, especially after losing her brother, who was the closest person she had in the whole world. The thought of losing me just after losing her brother was clearly too much for her, which is probably why she went to such great lengths to do what she did._

 _Rightfully, I should have been furious with her, I should have hated her and distanced myself from her after I found out what she did, after all, who kidnaps someone they love and conducts dangerous experiments on them, I mean, stealing knowledge from the minds of mad scientists and using said knowledge on your so called loved one? Well, yeah, it's messed up. However, I was able to easily forgive her, I was even able to understand where she was coming from. The new abilities I had and how good they felt also helped make the decision that much easier. However, I had to make her promise not to ever do something like that again without my consent. She promised she wouldn't, but I'm not holding my breathe, I get the feeling that she would do it all over again if it meant that she could protect me, or if she felt that it was something that would help me._

 _In any case, she also downloaded and transferred all the knowledge that the five super soldiers had, that including the ability to speak over thirty languages and hack into practically any software in the world, and also over fifty different martial arts styles, including the ability to use all sorts of melee weapons and projectiles. She also improved the serum that the scientists used on the five super soldiers so that I would be even better than they were, without incurring the side effect of going batshit crazy like they did._

 _After that, she downloaded all the martial arts styles of the female super soldier for herself. She didn't use the serum on herself though for two reasons, one being that she believed that there was no one in the world who could survive it apart from me, she doesn't believe even the winter soldier could survive it. The other reason was that she wasn't sure how the serum would affect her powers, so she decided not to risk it._

 _After I woke up and everything was explained and we were finally able to resolve our issues, we spent the next twelve months training and honing our skills. She had to get her body up to standard so that she could fully utilise the fighting techniques she downloaded from the female super soldier, and who better than me to get her into tip top shape. Needless to say, after one year of training, I was confident that Wanda could give Natasha a run for her money, if not outright give her a major ass whooping, and that's without tapping into her powers._

 _Sure, one could argue that Natasha has way too much experience and battle instict compared to Wanda, however, Wanda doesn't just download information or memories, she also downloads the experiences themselves and can assimilate them and make them her own. So technically, she has all the experience that the female super soldier had, which is a heck of a lot of experience, and she also spent a whole year training with me, so yes, I'm confident that Wanda can whoop any woman or man's ass for that matter._

 _On my side, I have improved drastically, and Wanda's advanced serum has worked wonders for me. I'm quite confident that I could give even the Hulk himself a run for his money now, yes, I'm that strong, that fast, that durable, that smart, and just totally that badass. I am the ultimate super heroe, and things are about to change in the world, count on it._

 _There is one thing that is bothering me though, I can't help but to feel that Wanda is hiding something from me. I feel like there is something else she has done to my body, but she won't open up about it, she refuses to even entertain the question. She has had a slip of the tongue here and there about it, but when I question her, she throws a tantrum and starts throwing things at me...with her mind. So I have decided to let it go for now. I've spent a long time with this woman, just the two of us, 24/7, and she is the love of my life. So whatever it is, I know without a shadow of doubt that she has my best interests at heart, so I will put my faith in her, as she has in me._

 **26 months after kidnapping: Avenger's Tower:**

"Tell me Tony! What the hell is this darn meeting about now? Didn't I tell yo big brained ass I'd get back to you when I had any information about Captain America's whereabouts?" Nick Fury asked irritably.

He was seated on the opposite end of the dinning table facing Tony Stark, who was at the head of the table, and despite the formal dress code, he alone was dressed in his usual attire, apparently refusing to conform to the dress code that Tony had explicitly made him aware of, and on his left hand sat former Agend Maria Hill, who had resumed her association with Nick Fury after the captain dissappeared as they formed a mini task force dedicated to locating the captain and of course, Wanda Maximoff, who was believed to be the one responsible for the captain's disappearance. Maria was wearing a white blouse along with a black pencil skirt with black, see through stalkings to go with.

On Fury's right hand sat special agent Sharon Carter, who was now a member of the CIA, but also collaborated with Nick Fury and Maria Hill from time to time to share intel regarding the manhunt for Wanda Maximoff and the search and rescue mission for Steve Rogers. The next two people on the table, facing each other were Natasha Romanoff and Sam Wilson, and after them was Rhodey and Bruce Banner, Bruce Banner having returned curteousy of Tony, who had found him and begged him to return and help them find the Captain, though of course with Tony, the reasons he tends to give for his actions seldomly correlate with his real reasons. In any case, last but not least was Tony himself, who was sitting at the head of the table, having called in the meeting and seemingly being the leader of the Avengers in Tony's absence, although maybe Thor might have challenged for that position were he to spend enough time on the planet, or if they knew how to get hold of him for that matter.

"Oh just keep your damn panties on for five minutes at least Nick, really, you don't have to be such a slut to get a man's attention." Tony retorted with typically dry sarcasm, causing Nick to stare right through him, as if contemplating whether to strangle Tony to death right then and there and be done with it.

"Seriously? That's why you called us here? So we can watch you boys have a pissing contest?" Natasha asked with an exasperated roll of the eyes.

"Of course not, the reason I brought you here is because I think I may have an idea about what really happened to our dear captain..."

"Oh really? And here I was thinking that everyone in the world severely overates your intelligence." A voice that everyone recognised all too well reverberated around the meeting room as Steve Rodgers walked in with a tuxedo on, but more importantly, with Wanda Maximoff for company, the two walking in arm in arm almost as if they were on a date, Wanda wearing a stunning red dress that was split on her right thigh and black high heeled shoes along with a black pearled purse.

"Speak for yourself honey. I don't think Tony has an overated intelligence, I know he does. After all, I've been inside his head before." Wanda retorted as the two stood together about a meter away from Nick Fury's seating position, the couple seemingly oblivious to the absurdity of the situation or the effect it had on their compatriots.

"S-steve...!" Natasha trailed off with a shocked expression.

"Hello Natasha, it's good to see you again, two years is after all, a very long time." Steve greeted with a casual wave of the hand, as if he didn't notice Nick, Sharon, Maria, and Rhodey reaching for their stashed weapons, or Tony fiddling with his watch under the table, a watch that could turn into a deadly weapon in the blink of an eye mind you.

"C-Cap man! How can you just...! Are you okay man?" Sam asked with a whirlpool of emotions displayed on his tone and facial expressions.

"I'm literally better than ever Sam. I had to take Wanda on a training trip to help her master her abilities, and in the process I too have grown in leaps and bounds, and so has our relationship..."

"Oh yeah I can see that." Sam cut in as he stared at the interlocked limbs of the duo whilst also observing their tell tale body language.

"I'm just wondering where I stand with you right now, and where the hell it is that you dissappeared to. I mean, I get not telling the others where you were going, but not telling me man? I don't know if it's just me but I thought our friendship was deeper than that cap." Sam added with an unmistakably dissappointed tone.

"It is better than that Sam, which is why I didn't tell you. I didn't want to put you in a position where you had to lie to your comrades, and I certainly didn't want you to be the focal point of their investigation, because I'm quite certain they would have unravelled your whole life to get that information. There are those amongst us who don't have the same notions of respect when it comes to a person's right to privacy..." Steve trailed off as his eyes lingered accusingly on, well, everyone with the exception of Sam, Wanda, and himself of course.

"I guess the one thing you failed to improve on is your maturity, clearly you still think like a ten year old child." Tony retorted angrily.

"Hn, hello to you too Tony, and everyone else of course. Forgive me for my rudeness, and it's good to see you all again." Steve formerly greeted, casually dismissing Tony's barb at his intellectual capacity.

"Wait a darn minute here! I know you don't think that you can just waltz in here with little miss demon magic after dissappearing for so long without so much as an explanation? Nick exclaimed with indignity.

"I have to agree with Fury on this one. You better have a darn good explanation for this Steve." Rhodey added, Natasha, Sharon, and Maria, all still shell shocked by not only Steve's re-appearance, but arguably even moreso at the fact that Steve was now seemingly in a romantic relationship with Wanda Maximoff of all people.

'How did this happen?' Natasha thought with a deep frown etched onto her facial features, struggling to comprehend neither what was happening or more especially, the feelings that it provoked deep in the depths of her heart and mind.

She was of course happy to see Steve again, and to find out that he was alive, though whether he was compromised or not was something that was still subject to investigation. She wasn't however happy about the close relationship he seemed to have with Wanda if her interpretation of the situation was accurate, for the fact that all this time they had believed that Wanda abducted him, but also because for some reason she couldn't quite identify, she was feeling extremely envious right now about the whole situation.

She knew that she and Rogers had come very close to dating in the past, they obviously cared deeply for each other back then and they still did before his disappearance, but she had been, and still was very much in love with Bruce Banner, the man who had stolen her heart, which is what made the feelings she was having with respect to Wanda and Steve's relationship all the more confusing for her.

 _'Maybe it's because my emotions are all over the place at the moment, maybe because Bruce and I have been going through some tough times recently.'_ Natasha thought sadly, and she was right too, after all, Bruce had abandoned her and their relationship at a time when she had been ready to give up everything just so that she can be with him. The pain of that event and the aftermath was still very fresh in Natasha's mind and although she was trying to forgive him so that they can mend their relationship, it was a heck of a lot easier said than done. She would have beat the living shit out of him if she wasn't so afraid of his alter ego taking over while she was dishing out the pain, she certainly had no intention of dying in a domestic violence incident involving the damn Hulk, and maybe, despite herself, she had too much respect for him to emasculate him like that, though she did push him off a cliff that one time.

"Like I already said to Sam, Wanda and I were on a self discovery/training mission. It took longer than expected but it was more than worth it. Her powers have grown and she has complete mastery over them, and I have also become a better warrior." Steve replied casually.

"Seems like you discovered each other instead." Maria said with her eyes deliberately directed at the arm lock between the two, causing Wanda to blush lightly at the insinuation, which was more a matter of fact really as opposed to a mere insinuation.

Maria had only met the captain a handful of times, and even within that handful she had only exchanged words with him two or three times, however, in the short time that she had been with him, he had made a profound impression on her. She'd developed a bit of a crush on him, however, all the information she had on him had suggested that, though he was a stand up guy and a very good man, not to mention strong and handsome, he didn't appear to be relationship material and neither did she herself. So she'd brushed the thought of a serious relationship with him aside and the idea of having a no strings attached fling with him didn't sit right with her, nor did she think that he was the type to entertain something like that. As a result, she had over calculated everything and ended up not making a move at all.

But now, after seeing how cosy and how comfortable and at peace he was standing next to his woman, she was beginning to wonder if maybe she had made a grave mistake by writting off the chances that she had with him. Was it possible that it would be her in his arms right now instead of Wanda, did she still have a chance with him or should she just move on?

"Yes...there is that too. Wanda and I have fallen in love, she knows me better than anyone else out there and vice versa, and I love her with every fibre of my being." Steve replied with a genuine smile, completely oblivious to the impact this was having with the other females in the room, but then again, so was everyone else with the exception of Wanda, who had already assessed the situation even before she abducted her lover.

"Well, I guess congratulations are in order then." Sharon said with a smile, trying really hard to be happy for the Captain, though it was very hard for her, human instinct dictating that she look out for her own interests, that being wishing for his relationship with Wanda to fail and for his and hers to take off sometime after that, although really, she was genuinely happy that he was okay and that he was happy too.

 _'Out of the three of them, she is the biggest threat. Her love for him is pure and unlike the others, she doesn't see him as a man child nor does she think she is smarter or wiser than he is. She also isn't the type to make decisions for him nor does she oppose his views and decisions. She respects him and is in fact of like mind to him. I have to be weary of her the most.'_ Wanda thought with a mind's eye of the needle, able to accurately discern the feelings and emotions of her rivals, thanks in part to her own discerning spirit but also thanks to her new ability, that being the ability to sense emotions.

"Thank you Sharon, that means a lot to me." Steve replied politely, only to be interupted by a fake coughing fit from Tony Stark.

"What is it, Tony?" Steve asked curiously, the two of them still standing as there were no more seats available.

"I'm just wondering what kind of irresponsible child would just take off, leave every single responsibility aside, without telling anyone, just so that he can go on a near two year long play date with his girlfriend. I'm also wondering where the heck you two were hiding in the first place since well, every intelligence organisation in America was looking for you, using the best technological and human resources mind you, and we all still had not even a clue about your whereabouts. It's just mind boggling for me, and I certainly don't believe that either of you are smart enough or resourceful enough to pull off something like that. So tell us, who exactly are you working for? Hydra? Some other entity that we need to know about?" Tony asked with an unhealthy degree of synicism and narcisism.

"We refuse to disclose our wherebouts and quite frankly, it is none of your business where we were or what we were up to for the last twenty months. What Steve and I get up to in our free time is our business, and our business alone. Got that?" Wanda retorted with a deep Sokovian accent, the extra depth of her accent being a tell tale sign that Steve had picked up in their time together of an elevated emotional state in his girlfriend, this time that emotion being negative one, namely, irritation and anger.

"That's nice to hear Wanda, except I wasn't talking to you. What's wrong Steve, you going to let this kid speak for you? How do you expect to be Captain America if you can't even reign in your woman...?"

"Okay that's enough Tony. We are not disclosing where we were, period. That's not how things work. Thor dissappears all the time and so does Bruce Banner and Nick Fury. I don't hound them about their whereabouts when they go nor do I make it my business, because I understand that they have their own lives and they have a right to privacy. The reason for that is because they are my friends and I know that, wherever they may go, and whatever they may do, I can trust them to have my back when it matters, and more importantly, to help those in need whenever they can. I expect the same curtousy." Steve retorted with finality, silence taking hold of the room as everyone contemplated the Captain's words, at least, that's what would have happened had Fury not had a smart ass retort as usual.

"Sounds like a mighty convenient excuse to me, or rather, a very clever attempt at misdirection." Fury retorted.

"What exactly are you trying to imply?" Wanda asked indignantly.

"He's saying that if you and Mr. Perfect over there really were NOT up to no good, then you shouldn't have a problem about disclosing your whereabouts and what it is you have been up to in the last twenty damn months that we've been wasting our time, money, and resources looking for you!" Tony exclaimed furiously.

"What you did or did not do while we were away is none of our concern, because as I recall, Stevie left a letter behind explaining everything, a letter that specifically ordered you all not to look for us. If you lost money and wasted time looking for us even after that, then that is your problem, not ours." Wanda argued vehemently.

"That letter was vague at best! And who the hell was talking to you kid? Steve how long you gonna let this woman speak for you? Or is she really the one who wears the pants in this relationship?"

"Our relationship is not..."

"Bitch didn't he just say nobody was talkin to you?" Fury exclaimed angrily.

"Hey! That's enough of that chauvinistic bullshit! Geez what is this, the sixteenth century?" Natasha complained, rightfully so if one had to be honest with themselves.

"Yet another woman speaking for you, what's your secret captain?" Tony muttered under his breathe.

"You too Tony! Is that what you really think about about women? Is that what you think about Maria and Sharon? Is that what you think about me?" Natasha asked with a hurt and dissapointed tone.

"Don't make this about you, because it isn't. This is about Captain Perfect over there, who seems content to hide behind the women in his life rather than stand up for his damn self." Tony retorted furiously, the rest of the people in the room choosing not to get involved in this whole mess, whether because they were too shocked to master a response or too scared being another issue entirely.

"There's nothing to defend Tony. I left in order to take care of the member of our team who needed me the most and it took longer than anticipated, and now I'm back. I also left some guidelines about who would be in charge and how business should be taken care off in my absence, guidelines that were completely ignored. Perhaps that is the real issue we should be talking about, and how we are going to move forward from here on out..."

"Move on from here on out? I'm not sure if you have been living in a cave all this time Steve, but there is no Avengers anymore. Tony called us in today in order try and get us back together, but everything fell apart while you were gone." Natasha cut in.

"Well he's back now, and he's going to fix everything." Wanda retorted instantly.

"So that's it huh? You're just going to waltz back into our lives after abandoning all of us, and everything is going to be just fine?" Tony asked with a perplexed expression.

"I left you in charge when I left, and you were the one that organised the team in the first place. I was certain that, despite your troubles in the past, that you could take care of things in my absence. I was also hoping that you would rise to the occassion and come out of it a better man and a better leader at the end of it all. I didn't mean for things to turn out the way they did, but maybe this was for the best."

"Oh really? What part of this exactly was the best, Steve?" Natasha asked with a deep frown etched onto her facial features.

"Well, look at the bright side. You guys are all back working together again. Bruce has returned, Fury and Maria are back, and Sharon seems to have gotten closer to the rest of you whereas before she was only ever really in contact with me, and I'm sure you've all gotten to know and appreciate each other a lot more in your collective and individual efforts to find me. The situation is not beyond repair, in fact, one could argue that this could be the beginning of bigger and better things for the Avengers. I think that we should give it another shot."

"Just like that then? We're supposed to forgive and forget just like that? Forget that our leader just up and deserted us? Pretend that we can trust that it won't happen again?" Rhodey asked with a healthy dose of skepticism.

"He didn't desert anyone. His only mistake was having faith in his friends, having faith that they could keep it together and take care of everything and everyone in his absence, faith that they would continue to uphold his ideals and beliefs while he was out busting his ass to help someone who was and is important to him and the team. If that makes him a bad guy then I hope he never becomes a good guy!" Wanda retaliated.

"..."

"Well, that's a very nice speech kid, but who's going to fund this little pet project? Because you know what, I would never just up and leave everyone to go on a two year vacation. I'm always here and busting my ass off because you know why? Because it's my money that funds this whole operation, and I'm done wasting my money on the likes of you!" Tony snapped, everyone's eyes widening at that declaration as fear, anxiety, and sadness creeped into their hearts, wondering what the world would do about the human, supernatural, and even alien criminals that threaten the very existence of the world without the aid of the Avengers.

"That's okay Tony. You've done more than any should ask of you already. Your selflessness and genorosity has been inspirational to say the least. You don't have to continue to fund the Avengers anymore, but that doesn't mean that you should leave the team. You're still welcome, and you always will be, in fact, I would prefer it if you stayed with the team, but at the end of the day, it is your choice and I can't take that away from you." Steve replied with the utmost sincerity.

"Wait a minute! If Tony isn't going to be funding the organisation, then where exactly are you going to get the money? Surely you don't believe that you can run an operation like this without an extremely sizeable amount of cash flow." Rhodey asked incredulously.

"Don't worry about such trivial things, it's already taken care of. The only thing you have to concern yourselves with is your decision, whether you want to stay on the team or to leave the team. If you've lost faith in me and my ability to lead, that is also okay because we will schedule an election, where every member of the team will vote for a leader, and whoever gets the most votes will lead. I fought for these liberties for as long as I can remember, so I am not going to take that liberty away from any one of you. You have the power to decide what will happen from here on out, and please remember, this isn't about internal politics or anyone's personal agenda, this about the safety of the world. Keep that in mind as you deliberate on the matter. You have fourty eight hours to think about it..."

47 hours later:

"So, everyone is here except for Sam, Wanda, and Steve...interesting." Vission thought out loud, having returned from his meeting with State Secretary Ross, who had practically demanded, more like ordered really, a meeting with the artificially intelligent being, citing National Security as the excuse as usual as the reason behind...well, everything.

"Yes well, those three have spent a lot of time together in the last 47 hours from what I hear." Tony retorted cheekily.

"That's strange, you know, I've heard the exact same thing. Interesting isn't it, kind of makes you wonder if Sam Wilson hasn't been playing us this whole time." Fury retorted synically.

"You guys are unbelievable. You mean to tell me that you have been spying on the captain this whole time?" And you guys wonder why I dissappeared three years ago?" Bruce asked incrediculously.

"Oh please spare us the mala dramatics Bruce! Not everyone can ignore common sense like you and the captain. Some of us find it extremely difficult to lock our minds inside our ten year old selves." Tony retaliated.

"Are you listening to yourself? Steve Rogers is not the enemy, if you had common sense that wouldn't be so hard for you to comprehend. Spying on our own friends? What's the difference between our friends and the enemy then?" Bruce retorted with a pained facial expression.

"It's not that we think he's the enemy Bruce, we just want to make sure that he is okay, that he's not being backmailed or compromised in some other manner. You gotta admit, it's totally uncharacteristic of him to just up and dissappear like that for two years, not to mention that he said he would fund the whole operation like he was talking about buying candy at the store. Aren't you at least curious about where he is getting all this money from?" Natasha tried to explain.

"I don't believe this! You're also part of this? You're spying on Sam, Wanda, and Steve?" Bruce asked with a disgusted tone, Natasha's breathe getting caught in her throat when she saw the look that Bruce was giving her.

"At least she's not cowering away and hiding at some dark corner of the world just to run away from her problems, unlike someone else that I know." Tony retorted with an accusing tone.

"You guys keep telling yourselves what you want, but I know garbage when I see and hear it, and all of this? It's all garbage." Bruce said with finality.

"I don't think that's a fair assessment Mr. Banner. Often at times the difference between good and evil is the intention behind the actions, and not the actions themselves. I believe that Nick, Mr. Stark, and Ms. Romanoff all had the best intentions when they took the actions that they took."

"You make it sound like it was just the three of them. It's obvious that if Fury was involved, then Maria was also involved, just as it is obvious that if Tony was involved, then you and Rhodey were also involved. The only one I don't know about is Sharon, but I wouldn't write her off either since she spied on Steve in the past for what, 12 months?" Bruce countered swiftly.

"So you're just gonna sit there and play holliar than though art then? Is that it?" Rhodey retorted irritably.

"You were all involved with the exception of me, and none of you felt compelled to let me in on it until afterwards, because you knew what you were doing was wrong and that I would object to it. So don't try to emotionally blackmail me." Bruce retorted as the conversation went back and forth like that for the next 46 minutes.

 **Meanwhile: Steve and Wanda's Hotel Room**

"Hey Sam..." Steve called out as Sam walked towards the door, both of them wearing a casual outfit now as opposed to the night that they were reunited.

"Hey what is it man?" Sam said as he turned around to face the captain.

"I just wanted to give you this. Consider it a token of appreciation, for being such a good friend to me." Steve said as he handed a small piece of paper over to one of his closest friends.

"A piece of paper with some sort of code on it? I mean, I know you're the finest soldier to ever grace the world but come on man, does a simple token of friendship have to be given in a coded message too?" Sam asked with a playful smirk on his facial features.

"I'm afraid so my friend." Steve replied with a matching smirk, a small chuckle escaping his throat at the incredulous expression spotted by his friend at that response.

"Just what is this anyway man?" Sam asked curiously.

"Those are co-ordinates to a location, and the password to gain access to said location. In that location is something that I had specially made for you, something that you might need one day if the government were to one day repossess your Falcon Suit." Steve explained, causing Sam's eyes to widen in horror.

"What? Don't tell me you haven't thought about it? You have to remember Sam, technically, and factually speaking, your weapons and your suit are government property. However, I have had an upgrade made for you on the outside chance that they decide to take it away from you. I know how much you love flying that thing." Steve explained with a relaxed but serious tone and expression.

"You make a good point Cap, but why would they take it away from me? And how on earth did you get not only a replica, but an upgraded version of my suit made? We're talking about a billion dollar project here...oh, yeah, I forgot, you're going to tell me everything when you're sure we aren't being watched anymore."

"Exactly. I know it's hard, but you just have to be a little patient for just a little bit longer. In the meantime, I want you to take this and destroy that paper, right after you have memorized the co-ordinates and the password." Steve said as he handed a lighter over to his compatriot.

"Whatever you say man, you're the boss...as long as you don't leave me out of the loop like that again." Sam said with a grave undertone, giving the captain a piercing and meaningful stare as he lit the paper up.

"That goes without saying. I won't do that to you again, I promise." Steve replied, the two of them watching as the paper turned into nothing but ashes in a matter of seconds.

"Can't wait to see this new suit though, now I'm kinda hoping that the government does confiscate the one I'm currently using." Sam broke into a fit of almost manic giggles.

"Hahahaha! Come on now, don't let me see you intentionally doing anything stupid just so that you can get your hands on a new suit." Steve laughed.

"Hehehe, yeah you're right. Anyway, I guess we should head out then, before future Mrs Rogers starts wondering if you and I aren't doing what you and her should be doing in your hotel room."

"Hehehehe! She knows better than to think that. But you're right, she's probably back at the lobby already. Let's get going."

 **Later: Avengers Tower**

"Okay, now that we've got the greetings out of the way, let's get the show started, and again, it's good to see you again, Clint." Steve said as he stood to the side, being the only one who wasn't seated at the meeting table, probably because of some type of psychological warfare and powerplay that was occuring between Fury, Tony, and the Captain, Fury and Tony having taken both the seats on each opposite end of the table. Sam and Wanda however had taken spots in the middle, after all, if they stood with him, not only would it be awkward but it would also create a sort of divisive atmosphere, as if the Avengers were splitting into social/political groups.

"It's good to be back Captain, although I'm only back on a part time basis." Clint replied, Steve not liking that Fury had somehow managaed to pull the man away from his family and back into this dangerous life, and definitely suspicious of the man's true reason for bringing Hawkeye back into the picture, also suspecting that Natasha almost certainly was involved in this scheme, as she, more than anyone, had that sort of influence on Hawkeye, possibly moreso than the guy's own wife.

"Hmmm, anyway, let's get this show on the road shall we. First of all, I'm gonna give each and everyone of you a piece of paper and I want everyone to write down the name of the person they choose to be the next leader. The person with the most nominees will become the new leader." Steve instructed, much to the confusion of many of his compatriots.

"Wait what? Isn't there supposed to be an official voting ceremony after the nomination ceremony? What kind of procedure is this?" Fury asked incredulously, many of the Avengers sharing the same thoughts as him but none of them, probably with the exception of Tony, brave or brash enough to just dish em out like that.

"I know what usually happens, and what usually happens is that people end up voting for a person they didn't support to begin with when and if their personal nominee doesn't make the short list, or they end up negative voting, as in, voting against the rival of their nominee out of principle alone as opposed to objectively assessing the merits of the availbale , I'm using this method to eliminate all of those political trivialties. In this format, everyone has to select their personal nominee and they don't get a chance to discuss it or to compare notes with anyone else." Steve replied in detail, and just as well too as it seemed there were no longer going to be any objections, that was of course until...

Clap clap clap clap clap

"What is it now, Tony?" Wanda asked irritably, rolling her eyes in exasparation at how insufferable the Iron Man was turning out to be.

"That's Mr. Stark to you little girl. Show some respect for your elders." Tony retaliated, Wanda internally bristling at being casually dismissed like that, dark thoughts filtering into her mind as she wondered whether she should mind rape Tony again or not.

"Perhaps she would, if she was talking to one." Sam countered.

"So now you have Sam defending your girl for you? Wow, just when I thought you couldn't sink any lower Mr. Almighty Captain America." Tony countered, clearly having no intention of yielding his antagonistic behaviour towards the captain.

"Why don't you stop acting out and tell me what exactly your problem is, This...adolescent-like behaviour is not going to solve anything. Let's talk about it like adults, man to man." Steve replied with a sincere tone, though for some reason that seemed to infuriate Tony so much more, as if he didn't believe in the sincerity of those words, as if Rogers was intentionally mocking him or something.

"Oh I have a lot of problems with regard to you Steve! However, my main problem right now is this farce of an election format that you have brought up."

"I'm not sure I understand what you're getting at, Tony, I'm just..."

"Trying to be as fair and just as possible? Yeah okay please cut the bullshit for once in your life Steve! This election is rigged and you know it. I can tell you now already what's going to happen, what you're counting on to happen..." Tony trailed off dramatically.

"Man what the hell are you babbling about now?" Sam asked incredulously.

"Yeah, I'm really curious too, as I'm sure are the rest of us." Natasha added with a deep frown on her facial features.

"Oh don't play dumb Natasha you know exactly what I'm talking about. Steve wants this format of election because he knows that he already has the votes secured. Sam, Wanda, Banner, and Sharon will vote for him, and he will vote for himself as well naturally. That's already five votes secured. I doubt that any of the other people remaining will vote for the same person, and he knows this. He's counting on me to vote for myself, and maybe for Vision and Rhodey to vote for me, but that would only be three votes compared to his five. He also knows that Maria will vote for Fury and that Fury will vote for himself, and that makes what, just two for Fury. That leaves just you Natasha and our part time member over here. Best case scenario is that you vote for Steve and Clint also votes for him, or you both vote for Fury, which still gives Fury only four votes compared to Steve's five. Either way you look at it, he is guaranteed to win, and I don't for one second believe he would have suggested this system if he didn't already know that he was guaranteed a victory." Tony ranted furiously, unable to believe how gullable these people had to be to buy this good guy front Steve was putting up.

"Tsk tsk tsk tsk! Wow, I mean, I knew you had deep rooted, serious issues, but even I didn't know you had it this bad, and I've been inside your head." Wanda retorted.

"Yeah nice try mind rapist, but your mind games aren't going to work on me anymore. I mean...am I really the only one who thinks that it is insane to trust someone who has never shown even a glimpse of his dark side? I personally don't think you need to be a psychic or a shrink to know that no such person exists. There is a side of this man that nobody knows about and I'm willing to bet that that side is more horrible than anything any of us have shown, hence why he feels the need to hide it so much. He's playing all of us, he always has been! Can you guys not see this? Did the two year disappearance and lack of explanation not trigger any alarm bells? Can you not see how rigged this voting system is...?"

"Enough!" Natasha exclaimed angrily, shocking everyone in the room into silence, not that they weren't silent to begin with, except that this silence was far more grave than it was previously.

"I am sick of this pissing contest between the two of you! Clearly you will never except Steve's leadership, I finally get that now! I also know for a fact that he doesn't approve of your methods too so there is no way in hell there will be any co-ordination under your leadership! So with that said..." Natasha trailed off, taking a deep breathe as she tried to steel her resolve and put her emotions under submission.

"I nominate Fury to once again take charge, like he did during our days as Shield agents. I understand that people might be weary of that because of what happened with Hydra practically taking over the whole of Shield, but let us all remember that it was Fury himself that discovered the breach and set up the plans in motion to expunge the breach. He is a very wise man, an experienced soldier, a patriotic humanitarian, a brilliant tactician, and a great leader. I believe he is exactly what the team needs right now, order and stability." Natasha said passionately, a contemplative silence taking hold of the meeting room, until, unsurprisingly, Tony shattered said silence into pieces.

"Personally I don't see anything special about him, but anyone is better than Mr. Disappearing Act so I guess you have my vote. What do you guys say, anyone else up for Fury taking charge? I mean, he has the resources to do it, both financially and otherwise. Real resources too, not made up fantasy resources like ones the Captain claims to have..."

"Tony! Geez enough already!" Natasha exclaimed indignantly.

"What? You know you're also thinking it. I mean, where the hell would he get those kind of resources?" Tony asked incredulously.

"..."

"See, I thought so. So with that said, anyone else besides me and Natasha think that Fury is the second best man suited for the job, after me of course?" Tony asked arrogantly.

"..."

"Anyone? Rhodey? Banner? Vision? No?" Tony persisted.

"Mr. Fury is suited for the job, I have no objections." Vision replied with a surprising lack of detail by his standards, though maybe indeed that was a testament to Fury's cedibility, the man clearly needing no introductions.

"Great! That's three votes. Come on now Maria stop fronting, we all know that there isn't anyone else that you could possibly vote for, and of course Fury will vote for himself too. So that makes it five votes does it not?" Tony asked rhetorically, taking the silence that met his statement to qualify as confirmation.

"Five votes down. We need one or two more, come on Clint, you and Natasha have always seen eye to eye, and we all know that you trust her judgement. We both know that she wouldn't suggest Fury unless she thought that it was the best possible choice given the circumstances. She's good at cutting through the haystack like that." Tony said encouragingly, though anyone with even a grape sized brain would be able to tell that everything that was coming out of his lips served only his own personal agenda against the Captain.

"I'm sorry Captain, but it does seem like this is the only solution. I've surved under both you and Mr. Fury before, and to be honest, you are the best Captain any soldier can ask for on the field, no one is better than you at leading a team. However, conversely, Fury is the best General any army could ask for, no one is better than him at gathering intelligence and managing different departments all at the same time, and no one is better than him at identifying even the most secretive and hidden threats to America and the World. You can still be Captain on the field with Fury running the overall project as a whole. I see no reason why the two of you cannot co-exist like that." Clint tried to explain his decision.

"Great! That's six votes on the table. Rhodey, come on man we don't have all day..."

"Fine! I vote for Fury too. I'm sorry Captain but you have a dangerous combination of arrogance and naivety. Leaving National and World Security at your hands is almost the same as leaving National Security and World Security at the hands of an overpowered baby. You don't seem to have a good grasp of the world around you, but like Clint said, you make one heck of a soldier and even team Captain on the field. So I guess what I'm saying is...stay on your lane." Rhodey said harshly, clearly not a fan of the term 'mincing your words'.

"Great! Seven votes in the bag! Ladies and Gentlemen, this election ceremony is officially over! We have a new leader ladies and gentlemen, let's give Mr. Fury a warm round of applause!"

 **Following Evening: Steve and Wanda's Hotel Room**

"So...last night totally happened huh? Man I still can't stop thinking about it." Sam said, shaking his head in dismay at the events of the previous night. He was seated on the couch looking at the blank screen of the tv whereas Steve was on his feet and Wanda was seated at the edge of their bed, theirs as in Wanda and Steve's bed of course.

"It definitely happened, but before we continue with this discussion, Wanda..." Steve trailed off with a meaningful look directed at his girlfriend.

"Aaargh! Finally! I was really getting fed up of playing possum!" Wanda said with exasperation as she activated her chaos energy, her right hand set ablaze with a glowing dark red.

"Hey wait a sec...!" Sam exclaimed as he jumped up to his feet as if anticipating an attack on his person, which is of course exactly what he was expecting, because otherwise why else would Wanda activate her powers in the middle of a conversation.

"Relax Sam, she's just getting rid of some nosy pests." Steve explained, and just as Sam was about to ask him what the hell he was talking about, a number of hidden surveliance equipment that was set up all around the room floated towards Wanda's right hand, a surprisingly large number of items too Sam noticed, that was of course before a circular force field formed around the items and shrank rapidly, crushing the items into tiny microscopic particles.

"Okay! What the hell was that!" A freaked out Sam exclaimed frantically.

"That was surveilance equipment belonging to both Tony Stark and Nick Fury. They installed it soon after they found out where Wanda and I are staying, and they have a whole lot of that at your place too, and every other member of the Avengers. This is the reason that I can never get along with them or even trust them completely, if at all at this point." Steve explained so casually that one could have easily been forgiven if they thought that this was just a regular, jolly conversation between old friends.

"They what! You can't be serious? I totally screened my apartment for bugs man there's no way any of that stuff is at my place...!"

"Tony and Fury are pieces of trash but they were not born yesterday Sam. They know you have a special expertise when it comes to that kind and most kinds of tech so they obviously went the extra mile specifically for you. That false sense of security is exactly what they were going for. They installed surveilance equipment in practically everything that you own, including your watch." Wanda cut in, causing Sam's eyes to widen in sudden realisation.

"That watch! It was a gift from Tony! And yesterday...that wasn't an accident was it yesterday? You intentionally broke my watch so that I wouldn't be wearing it today?" Sam asked rhetorically, the only response he was able to get from Wanda being a confident, knowing smirk.

"Damn...!"

"There's a few more things you have to know Sam, see those co-ordinates I gave you for your spare suit? Well, the suit is real, but the co-ordinates are fake, today I will take you to the location of the suit, and that location is where our main base is also located. You'll be meeting some of the members of our team, and I will introduce you as our newest member." Steve explained, once again in a very casual tone given the nature of the conversation and especially the implications of it.

"Wait a minute what? What the hell are you talking about man?" Sam asked with a bewildered tone and expression.

"The avengers are doomed Sam, Steve and I both know it, and deep down, so do you. The team is very disfunctional to say the least, and some of the members, as proven just recently, are obviously not trustworthy. We're not leaving or desserting the Avengers, but we have a contingency plan in case the Avengers go down the path that we fear they are headed. There are already signs of a divide within the ranks and it's only a matter of time before the political struggle within the ranks ends up being fought on the battlefield. If such a scenario were to come to fruition, we would prefer not to get involved in the power struggle and instead breakout into our own organisation." Wanda explained, a dead silence taking over the hotel room as Sam mulled over Wanda's words, that was of course until Steve broke the silence.

"The foundations have already been layed out Sam, and you are my closest friend in a way only matched by my friendship with Bucky. You are my brother in everything but blood, and Wanda is the love of my life. That is why I want you two by my side in this project. I can't do it without you man, I don't want to do it without you." Steve said with the utmost sincerity, so much so that Sam had absolutely no doubt that Steve meant every word that came out of his mouth.

"You know I got your back man, always have and always will. But I can't get into something that I don't even understand. I need to know what exactly is the purpose of this organisation, besides being a contingency plan for the failure of the Avengers program." Sam inquired with a hint of suspicion.

"The goal is the same as what it has always been. To protect the rights and liberties of the people, and to protect America and the world from all threats to it's existence, whether indegenous or extra terrestrial. It has never changed and it never will. I will never ask you to fight for something that you don't believe in Sam. Membership in our organisation is not a leesh around the neck, you're pretty much left to your own devices, and answering a call is optional. You don't have to answer if you don't want you. The only strict rules are that you don't reveal any critical information about the organisation's whereabouts, activities, and members. Those are our only regulations, and of course, you have to have justice in mind and save as many innocents as possible during missions, whether they are your own personal missions or missions for the organisation. That is our code of conduct, and that's all you have to worry about." Steve explained patiently.

"Wow. Sounds more like a secret circle of friends than a crime fighting organisation." Sam retorted.

"In a way, that is exactly what it is. It's just us and our close friends working together for a common goal." Wanda elaborated with a re-assuring smile.

"Okay, I'm game. You have my full confidence, and I accept your offer for membership into the organisation." Sam replied with a small smirk.

"Great! Welcome to the Heroes of The Universe Association!" Wanda exclaimed excitedly.

"Heroes of the what now?" Sam asked incredulously.

"Don't look at me, she's the one who named it." Steve said with a small chuckle.

"And you said you loved it so don't go disowning it now." Wanda retorted.

"To be fair, I was compromised at the time." Steve replied lecherously, causing Wanda's breathe to hitch on her throat, spotting a shy blush as she remembered exactly what they were doing at the time.

"Okay that's enough you too. I'm still here you know." Sam said with a mockingly deeper voice than usual, the three friends laughing at that together, as if they didn't have a single care in the world.

"Ahem. Anyway, follow me Sam. It's time for you to meet our other friends..."

 **One Hour Later: Universe Headquaters.**

To say Sam was stunned would be the equivalent to saying that Ultron was an evil sun of a bitch, yes, a massive understatement. As it turned out, the hotel that Wanda and Steve had been staying at, was actually owned by the two of them, and was nothing but an extention of the Universe Corporation, a bio tech organisation that recently gained power, money, and momentum over the past twelve months, an organisation that was inexplicably owned and run by a 23 year old girl known as Lucy Rogers, a young, angelically beautiful, short haired (no weave), and light skinned African American girl.

As if that was not surprising enough, it turned out that her surname, Rogers, was not just a coincidence, because she was actually Wanda and Steve's daughter. Now that one had thrown Sam for a loop, because even if she were a clone or some sci fi scenario like that, it still begged the question, why the hell was she African American if she were the child of those two. Well, as it turned out, she wasn't even human, she was something Steve and Wanda reffered to as a humanich, in other words, an artificially created human, or in simpler terms, an android, though, with the exception of x-ray vision, there seemed to be no way of identifying her as anything other than a normal human, especially considering that she even possessed the ability to eat, drink, sleep, and even have sexual relations like a normal human, by her own words, though unlike a normal human, didn't have to do any of those if she didn't want to.

He also found out that she went by two aliases, black cat and cat woman, not surprisingly Sam thought, because if the black, form fitting combat suit didn't give it away, then her cat walk and the voluptous curves that would drive any straight man insane surely did do just that. It also made sense because apparently she had modified herself to possess the combat instincts, speed, agility, flexibility, senses, and strength to match her identity as catwoman, which, on top of the many martial arts and weapons arts programs that she had downloaded, made her a very dangerous foe indeed. He was certainly glad he and she were on the same side that was for sure.

Another member, very similar but also very different from Lucy, was a robot known as an NS-5 that goes by the name Sonny. He was the top model out of Steve and Wanda's I-robot series, a collection of robots that they had created when they were starting out, using the knowledge that they obtained from Hydra scientists. Technically speaking, Sonny was the prototype to Lucy, not quite an android like Lucy but more of a robot, or maybe somewhere between a robot and an android. In any case, even though he certainly wasn't a humanich, he still possed an impressive artificial intelligence program and could even dream and display a large set of emotions, even learn new ones too. He looked down right terrifying Sam had to admit, but after meeting and having a conversation with the guy, Sam could say without a doubt that he was relatively certain that he and Sonny would make good friends, the guy was way less of a prick than Vision that was for sure, and it went without saying that he was way less of an asshole compared to Ultron. He was also the one responsiible for running and managing the facilities of the Heroes Of The Universe, whereas Lucy was in charge of running the literally and figuratively not so underground Universe Corporations.

Meeting these two artificially intelligent beings was a big surprise, but a good surprise in hindsight, however, meeting the other ring leader was certainly not a good surprise for Sam, after all, there was no way any sane person would have expected to meet the freakin Winter Soldier here of all places. Turns out Steve and Wanda went out of their way to find this guy, and as it turns out, Wanda's new prowess over her chaos energy was useful in many more ways than he could have imagined, in particular her mind raping abilities, as she was able to expunge the program Hydra had installed in the Winter Soldier from his mind, meaning that he could no longer be controlled anymore and could be his true self, a proud member of the Heroes of The Universe.

As if it didn't already make sense to Sam where Steve was getting the money he had been planning to use to fund the Avengers, given that he was a co-owner of Universe Corporations, it was mind blowing to learn that the owner of Star Labs, Barry Allen, the owner of Queen Tech, Oliver Queen, and the owner of Wayne Enterprises, Bruce Wayne, were all members of the Association. Sam found it hard to believe that these kids were the Flash, The Arrow, and Batman.

The Flash, okay, he could accept that, Star Labs was the one responsible for the meta human crisis after all, so it made sense that the owner and ceo was affected too, and that he would be the one trying to resolve said issue. With the exception of the advanced technology and resources, it didn't really make sense for Oliver Queen to be the Arrow, besides, he'd been under the impression that the real name of the Arrow was Al Sah-Him or something. And Bruce Wayne, that was even worse, the kid was only eighteen years old for Pete's sake, but then again, so was that Kick Ass kid that Steve had recruited, unbelievable to say the least, coz the last time Sam saw that kid on the news, he was getting his ass whooped by some random thugs on the street, though the kid had a lot of heart and determinination he had to admit that much.

Nevertheless, things were not that bad. Oliver seemed to have wisdom and experience way beyond his years and if the fact that he was a former member of the league of assassins wasn't proof enough of his capabilities, then the fact that he was a victim of the mirakuru serum, the initial super soldier serum created by the Japanese, definitely made him a formidable warrior, but also a liability Sam thought, until Steve explained that Wanda had taken care of the craziness that comes with the serum much like she had done for Bucky Barnes. It also explained why he joined the Association and why he was so loyal, nothing can make you more grateful than someone curing your madness.

Was it surprising that an 18 year old was Batman? Damn straight. The guy had class and a fear factor so intense, so dark, and so extreme, that Sam could not have fathomed that the guy could possibly have been a mere kid. Still, his suit was impressive Sam had to say, he couldn't wait to have an air race with the guy to see who was the better flyer (His suit is that of Batman of The Future/Batman Beyond from the comics, so yes, he can fly).

And then, finally, there was Dave Lizewski, otherwise known as Kick-Ass, a guy that, once again, although Sam admired for his bravery, selflessness, and courage, had absolutely no faith in him and didn't even see any value that he might add to the association. Steve however did explain that he had personally trained Kick-Ass and that everyone else, inclduding Bucky Barnes, Oliver Queen, and even Sonny, had chipped in from tume to time to help the kid out. Steve said that just as he expected, the kid had massive potential and was a quick study, he said that the kid was just a late bloomer and that was it. Sam was still skeptical, but trusted Steve's judgement, and besides, anyone who was the protege of those people/robot, had to be pretty kick ass themselves.

 **000000000000**

"Hey, where are we going exactly? And where's the Captain and the others?" Sam asked cautiously as he followed behind the incredibly attractive Lucy Rogers, finding it extremely difficult to remind himself that she not only isn't human, but is also the daughter of his best friend, the endless curves and the catwalk not making it easy on him at all, not to mention the form fitting black body suit that she was wearing.

He also had to remind himself just how dangerous she could be, having learned first hand from their sparring session a few hours ago, having got his ass thoroughly whooped in all forms of combat, hand to hand, projectile weapons, and millie weapons too, that gun on her waist was not there just for show after all, she knew how to use it, and to use it well. There were other weapons on that holster of hers that he had never seen or heard of, and a bunch of different magazines for that multy purpose gun too, he'd never heard of a gun that can shoot bullets, sonic waves, air pressure bursts, water jet streams, and freakin spit fire as well, all depending on what magazine she put inside the gun. To be fair to him however, he didn't have his A-grade suit on at the time that they sparred, though he was certain that it would take every fibre of his energy and being to defeat her, because of course, she had super human, well, everything.

"Dad and Mom are back in their hotel room, you know, to keep up appearances, they did after all just destroy every one of Tony and Fury's surveilance equipment. And as for others, well, Dave, Oliver, Barry, and Bruce went back to their headquarters in their own Cities, crime never takes a break after all, therefore so shouldn't our heroes." Lucy replied as she opened another heavy metal door, Sam noticing that, as opposed to Sonny, she, just like the other human members, had to go through a retinal, voice, and hand print scan in order to gain passage.

"Yeah okay I get that, but what about you, Sonny, and James Barnes? Where do you guys go? And again, where are you taking me?" Sam asked suspiciously, this time with a harder and firmer tone compared to previously.

"Grrrrrr...firm and demanding, I like it when a man is like that." Lucy purred as she continued walking, Sam starting to sweat bullets because of her stalling tactics, knowing very well how practically defenseless he would be against her without his suit.

"..."

"Silence? Have you never been complimented before Mr. Wilson?" Lucy asked tauntingly.

"Not by the daughter of my best friend, no." Sam retorted.

"Yet, deep down, I bet you would love to tap this ass wouldn't you Mr. Wilson...?"

"Enough! I'm not taking another step forward until you tell me where the hell you are taking me and why!" Sam took a stand, literally, as he stopped walking and stood his ground, causing Lucy to finally turn around and look him in the eye.

"Grrrrr...so impatient, so strong willed. Be careful Mr. Wilson, you're starting to make a very profound impression on me, and a cat always gets what she wants, and if she doesn't get it initially, well, a cat has nine lives to try again...and again."

"Would you cut it out with the mind games! Look, okay I admit it, look, you're the hottest girl I ever seen, and every male instinct that I have wants me to bend you over the table and smash you till your pussy quivers and your legs shake. However, I am a human, not an animal, and therefore am not controlled by my instincts, I reign over them. I will not fuck my best friend's daughter under any circumstances so you can forget about it. I would never do that to Steve!" Sam said all in one breathe, gasping for air after that long ass rant, Lucy staring at him with an amused facial expression as she secretly studied him carefully, measuring everything from his heart rate, blood pressure, body heat, and all the way to something as simple as his body language, all in order to find out if he was being truthful or not.

"Okay Sam. I believe you, and as your reward, I will tell you exactly where we are going. I'm taking you to see both your new Falcon suit and that of Captain Universe along with his new shield, and I'm going to put you through the procedure so that you can have authority to gain access to all the relevant venues within the base, and to access information from our data base. You will then officially be a member of the Heroes Of The Universe Association." Lucy explained with a 'damn right you were overly paranoid' expression.

"Oh..." Was the only response Sam could master, Lucy snorting arrogantly and then swivelling around to continue with their journey, and Sam quickly scurrying behind her, eagerly anticipating what was to come next, and slightly dissapointed for some reason he couldn't explain that this wasn't actually a seduction attempt from Lucy, that was of course, before something clicked in his mind, something about what Lucy said in her explanation.

"Hey wait a minute Catty! Did you just say Captain Universe?"

 **Chapter End**

 **Before you ask, yes, I have combined both black cat (Marvel) and catwoman (DC comics) into one character who also has an AU background. She is a humanich, and for those who don't know, this is a term used in the series 'Extant' that refers to artificially created humans/robots, and Lucy was one of the main antagonists in the series. The actress was Kiersey Clamonts.**

 **Yes, I might do a side story some time later where I focus on the different members of Universe, or I might not, I dunno.**

 **This is a main story, it's the only comic related story I have and it is therefore my precious baby, I won't abandon it.**

 **Will superman make an appearance? I haven't decided yet, but there will be other marvel and dc characters, both villains and heroes, appearing, and I will try to be creative in how I present them.**

 **Kick Ass? Yeah, I bet none of you expected that huh? Haha! Don't worry, I'll set him up real good.**

 **Bucky Barnes? Yeah, well, with Sonny and Lucy, and all the information Wanda downloaded into her own mind and Steve's, finding Bucky would not have been impossible, although still difficult.**

 **Wanda can fly now, and her mind powers have improved? Yeah, I figured this would be the natural progression of her powers given what she has shown in both Civil War and Age of Ultron.**

 **Steve getting upgrades? It was neccessary I felt, though thinking he can take on the Hulk in a head on battle might be a little too arrogant of him.**

 **There will be many more surprises in the future, and I intend to put a lot of effort in this story. So stay tuned.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Captain America or any other series I might use for inspiration

 _ **Disillusioned**_

"What the...! Man I'm never gonna get used to this!" Sam thought out loud as he arrived in Steve and Wanda's hotel suite, having just been teleported there by Lucy via a teleportation machine at Universe Headquarters, a machine that she told him was designed by re-engineering alien technology that Steve and Wanda found in one of the former Hydra bases that they had taken over.

Lucy had told him that Oliver, Barry, Bruce, and even Dave had their own replicas of the teleportation machines so that they can come and go to the Universe base as they please with time and distance not being a factor, and she told him that they would install one for him too when they could find a location to build a secure hideout for him. She had also told him about how Wanda was able to use her chaos magic to replicate the teleportation effects of the machine, enabling her to open teleportation portals at will. Sam of course knew about this ability because it was Wanda who teleported him to the base in the first place, however, he had no idea that she had developed the ability by replicating an alien tech with her powers.

He was also told that Lucy and Sonny were working overtime to find a way to make a more convenient teleportation device for all the members, preferably one that was small enough to fit inside a pocket or to be wrapped around the arm like a watch or wristband, but of course, given that the current model was the size of an elevator, and even looked almost exactly like one, then the success of that project was not something Sam was holding out for in the near future.

"Oh don't be such a big baby! Your body will adjust to the effects in no time at all." Wanda teased light heartedly.

"I sure as hell hope so. I don't wanna feel like puking my guts out every time I travel to and from the base." Sam retorted much to both Wanda and Steve's amusement.

"I take it my daughter gave you a proper tour around the base, not to mention a comprehensive and detailed tutorial about Universe?" Steve asked rhetorically, Sam able to tell how much Steve was proud of and loved his daughter just from his tone and the way Steve's eyes lit up at the mention of her name.

"Yeah she did exactly that, she even showed me my suit along with that of Captain Universe." Sam said with an inquisitive tone.

"Aaah...I see." Was all Steve said in response.

"Hey man I aint complaining or judging you or nutn like that, but I gotta ask, why the change of name? What's wrong with the Captain America title?" Sam asked curiously.

"Well, just as your Falcon suit is government property, so is my suit, shield, and even my alias. If the government were ever to turn against us, then naturally, I would need a new name, suit, and shield." Steve replied.

"That...again makes a surprising amount of sense." Sam deadpanned.

"So you chose Captain Universe because you are the owner of Universe Corporations and the leader of the Heroes Of The Universe Association?" Sam asked rhetorically.

"Yes, but that is not the only reason."

"What could possibly be the other reason?" Sam asked with a small frown, unable to think of any more of a reason than the ones that he was already aware of.

"Originally, I became Captain America because I was a soldier fighting for America. However, I can no longer fight for just America anymore, not with all the suffering and terrorism that the whole world is facing at the moment, from humans, meta humans, aliens, and even gods. The way the world is right now, I can no longer turn a blind eye to the rest of the world, to the rest of the Universe. I have to protect all those who are in danger of being oppressed and mistreated by those with greater power, no matter what part of the Universe they may come from. Captain America protects the citizens of America, but Captain Universe protects the inhabitants of the universe." Steve declared with the utmost conviction.

"Damn! Man you sure know how to make a brother weak in the knees. Do you rehearse these speeches or something?" Sam asked with a lot of mirth in his tone and expression.

"No silly! He just speaks from the heart, he's an honest guy like that, a straight shooter. That's one of the things I find most endearing about him." Wanda said with a loving expression.

"Tche, and here I thought young girls like you were attracted to bad boys." Sam retorted cheekily.

"Oh he can be a bad boy when he wants to be, trust me." Wanda said with a lecherous tone.

"You know what, I don't think I want to hear anymore." Sam said with his hands up in the air in surrender, Wanda blushing slightly with embarassment, unable to believe that she had said that out loud to one of Steve's best friends.

 _'I really need to get some girlfriends to share this kind of stuff with. I can't exactly share much with Lucy, I don't think it's appropriate to share that kind of stuff with my daughter...even though knowing her, I bet she wouldn't mind at all.'_ Wanda thought to herself.

"Anyway, take this key card Sam, and only call that particular number on the back of the card when you want room service. One of our most trusted agents will deliver anything that you need." Steve said as he handed a card over to Sam.

"Thanks man but I don't think I'm going to need this any time soon. I was kind of planning to head on back home."

"You can't go back home today, at least, not until our people are done thoroughly screening your house for any more surveilance tech, upgrading your security, building your hideout, and installing your teleportation machine. That's gonna take approximately three days to complete, so until then, this is where you will sleep." Steve said with all the authority vested in him.

"Oh...okay I guess I have no choice then." Sam replied meekly.

"Good. Now I'm sure it's been a long day for you, and maybe you need some time to reflect and process everything, so I'm gonna let you go. Just make sure you get some rest okay?" Steve said as he got up and shook Sam's hand.

"Yeah that's exactly what I was thinking. I'll see you tommorrow Cap."

 **000000000000**

"I'm sorry, but I was under the impression that we were brought here to discuss our next move, so unless everyone else here has miraculously developed mind reading abilities within the last 24 hours, then I suggest you get to the point of this meeting boss man because unlike the rest of you, I actually have a life to get back to." Tony Stark burst out irritably, being the first to reach his limit and break the five minute long silence that they were subjected to since they arrived for the meeting that Fury called for.

The sitting arrangement was different from the previous times, and everyone had been ordered to arrive in their combat gear. The people who were not dressed the part were Rhodey, Tony, and Vision, though that was only because they didn't need to as Tony and War Machine could access their suits at the press of a button on their watches and Vision was technically always in combat mode, as he could transform his attire at the snap of a finger.

As far as the sitting arrangement was concerned, Fury now took the seat at the head of the table, and was flanked by Maria and Natasha. Next in line, facing each other, were Clint and Sharon, all four of them being Fury's former top and most trusted agents during his shield days. The next two facing each other were Steve and Wanda, followed by Sam and Banner, and after them was Vision and Rhodey, with Tony sitting at the foot of the table.

At first glance no one would notice anything significant about the sitting arrangement of the rest of the team, but for someone close enough, it would be easily identifiable that there were at least three factions even within the Avengers. Steve, Wanda, and Sam sat close together because they were close friends and Wanda and Sam were Captain America loyalists. Vision, Rhodey, and Tony sat close to each other, also because they were close friends, but also because, more often than not, they often are on the same page whenever a major decision has to be made.

And then there was Bruce Banner, who didn't belong to any particular faction, mostly because he is a loner by nature, but also as a result of being afraid of intimacy due to the danger posed by his alter ego. Still, even he had some sort of association, even if not a definite one, by that meaning that his sitting position was not a coincidence, as he was sitting between the Steve and Tony factions because he respected Steve a lot and often agreed with his ideals, but also because Tony had a hold over him because of their background as scientific geniuses, making it easy for them to respect each other and often working together at times.

So far these factions have yet to be an issue of major concern, because it wasn't like they were enemies or anything like that, and they all still had the same ultimate goal, that being to protect the country and the world from terrosist and extra terrestrial threats. However, if something were to happen to cause a split in the Avengers, it would be interesting to see how much this factional split would play a factor.

"I just wanted to give you all a moment of silence to mourn the old regime, and come to terms with the new one. Now that that is out of the way, let me get straight into business. First up on the agender, The Winter Soldier." Fury deadpanned as Maria pressed something on her tablet, causing the screen behind Fury to light up a menacing image of James Buchanan Barnes, a tense silence settling over the meeting room as Fury's gaze remained fixed on Steve Rogers, the others also glancing in his direction with concern, knowing what a sensitive topic that this was for him, and how a war of words could easily break out if someone said something that Steve didn't like about his best buddy.

"What about him?" Wanda asked with a small frown on her facial features, her accent becoming a tad thicker than usual as concern morphed onto her facial features.

She was wearing a new outfit nowadays, a black combat suit similar to Natasha's, except hers had a silver grey star similar to Captain America's between her breasts, and also had red lines on the sides of her legs, and it was also coloured red from her torso up to her collar, only the collar and the arms of her upper body being black. It really looked cool on her Steve had told her, and she had to admit, she really felt cool and legit in this outfit.

"I've been trying to track him since even before you and Steve disappeared, and I continued to do so even when I was looking for you two along with countless other American Government Departments that have also tried. And nothing, absolutely nothing can be found on him, as if he just up and disappeared off of the face of the earth. So I was wondering if the two of you had any idea where he might be hiding, after all, you can't honestly expect us to believe that you didn't attempt to find him in the time that you were gone." Fury said with a tone dripping with suspicion.

"What makes you think that we would know where to find him when even you failed to find anything about his whereabouts?" Steve countered.

"Because he pulled you out of the water and saved you from drowning. Because he could have easily killed you when you were unconcious and instead left you alive. Because he is, by your own words, your brother in everything but blood. And because you yourself went missing soon after he disappeard, for over two years, without leaving so much as a trace of your whereabouts. Need I carry on?" Fury said with a little irritation in his tone.

"No, you need not. I can't tell you where Bucky is, and even if I could, I probably wouldn't." Steve declared matter of factly, much to to the shock of, well, everyone, even Wanda and Sam, none of them having expected Steve to be that blunt, even if they already knew what an honest and cut throat guy he was.

"I'm sorry but did I just hear what I think I heard? Did you just admit that you would withold critical information regarding the whereabouts of one of the most dangerous of international criminals in the world?" Rhodey asked incredulously.

"Bucky is not an international criminal, he is a victim of international criminals. Hydra brainwashed him, he was under their control and had no control over his own body and mind. He is a victim, just like all the people that Hydra killed using his body and mind..."

"Oh...my...God I cannot believe what I just heard. Are you really that naïve?"

"Hey! Rhodey come on. It was his best friend. What would you do if the same thing happened to Tony? Would you just turn him in like that?" Sam countered

"Of course he would because it would be the logical thing to do. If he turns me in, a thorough investigation can be made to get to the bottom of the whole ordeal, and if I am found innocent, then I can be absolved of my crimes." Tony retorted.

"And who is the naïve one now? The only thing the government would do is to try and dissect him so they can figure out exactly what was done to him and replicate it for their own gains. Let's not forget that the Hulk exists only because the United States Government tried to replicate what was done to Steve and the Winter Soldier." Wanda countered smoothly.

"So basically...are you admitting that you do know where Bucky Barnes is and just won't tell us because you don't trust us?" Maria argued.

"I don't know where Bucky Barnes is right now, neither does Steve."

"And how do you know that he doesn't know and has just been hiding it from you?" Rhodey argued.

"Oh I don't know Rhodey, you think it maybe has something to do with the fact that I can read freakin minds?" Wanda retorted with a tone laced with incredule.

"So what? You guys have a mind rape fetish going on between the two of you? Do you guys have mind sex every night or something..."

"That's none of your business Tony. The fact is, I'm not helping you or anyone else to find Bucky. He is better off without any of you knowing where he is, and frankly, so is the world." Steve retorted.

"You do realise that that is borderline treason don't you?"

"I don't mean to be rude, I don't think I care. I'm not compromising my beliefs, principles and morals for any law, whether local, national, or international law." Steve said stubbornly.

"Wow! Wow! You know, I knew you were naïve, but I had no idea how much of a god complex you had. That is by far the most arrogant thing that I have ever heard, and quite frankly Steve, there is very little seperating you and the international criminals that we hunt down." Rhodey argued.

"I'm glad that you have the freedom of speech that allows you to share that opinion Rhodey, that is after all, exactly the freedom and liberation that I have fought for my whole life, and I apologise if mine offends you and everything that you stand for, but I will not yield my stance."

"Yes of course we know that already Steve, because you are an egotistical, self entitled...child!" Tony retorted.

"That actually sounds a lot like a fitting description of you..."Sam began only to be cut off mid sentence.

"Enough!" Fury exclaimed as he slammed his fists against the table, a tense silence taking hold of the meeting room.

"Steve Rogers, do you or do you not know where we can find James Buchanan Barnes?" Fury finally asked the question directly.

"I think I will excercise my right to silence if you don't mind sir." Steve retorted.

"And if I mind?"

"If you mind it will do you very well to keep your hypocrisy in check, need you be reminded that not too long ago you were in the same position as Bucky Barnes when you were accused of being a traitor and had the whole of Shield trying to capture and kill you. Do I need to remind you who it was that stood up for you, that sacrificed everything to protect and vindicate you? Were the Captain's actions only honorable because it was you that he was protecting? And if you still believe that Bucky Barnes should be turned in, then why didn't you turn yourself in when you were a wanted man?" Sam argued passionately, and quite accurately too if one had to be honest with themselves.

"That's different! Mr. Fury was innocent of all the wrong doings that he was being accused of, and you don't even know this James Buchanan Barnes, are you willing to fight for someone you don't even know just because Steve said that he's a good man?" Maria countered.

"Why not? I did the same thing for Fury, and I didn't know who the hell he was back then. I did it because the Captain is a man of his word, and an honorable man at that. I knew from the moment that we met who he was and what he stood for, so I don't understand how you guys, having known him for so long, can't even get something that took me just five minutes to get." Sam retorted.

"Oh...! So what? You're going to condemn us because unlike you, we're not Captain America fanboys?" Tony replied dismissively.

"That's enough! Enough arguing! I'm sick of it!" Natasha complained with more than a little hint of irritation.

"Black Widow is correct. This argument isn't taking us anywhere. As much as I hate to admit it, Falcon has a point. Mine and the Winter Soldier's situation aren't exactly the same, but have similarities that are too many and too apparent to ignore, and if that is not good enough, then there is also the fact that I owe Captain America big time for what he did for me, my comrades, and thousands of other innocent lives during that episode. So yes, I will let this go, but if Bucky Barnes resurfaces again and commits another atrocity, then all bets will be off and I will do whatever is neccessary to bring him in...or take him out."

"Wait so you're just going to let this slide because Captain America did one solid for you? Okay, just put hundreds of lives in danger because a friend did a solid for you, yeah that makes perfect sense." Rhodey argued.

"That's my decision and it's no longer up for discussion. Moving on to the next point, we need a new member to replace Thor. Now I understand that in the time he has been here, we have gotten a few additions to the team..." Fury trailed off with a glance at Sam, Vision, Rhodey, and Wanda.

"But that doesn't mean that we should overlook the loss of a great asset such as Thor. Now he's not dead obviously, but we have no way to contact him nor do we know when exactly he plans to revisit Earth again, or even if he will want to team up with us again. So for the meantime, we will be recruiting a replacement for him, and he can be a part time extra member or something from here on out. I have isolated three potential candidates for the position..." Fury trailed off as Maria used her tablet again to change the image on the screen, this time three individuals appearing on the screen, two being female and one being male.

The male, on the left side view of the audience, is a man fitting the description of tall, dark, and handsome to the latter, the man spotting short, dark, silky hair that was styled in a pushback and wearing a blue form fitting outfit with a red ankle length cape, and a red S embroidery on the middle of his chest. The woman on the far right also spotted a similar outfit too in terms of the red boots, red cape, S embroidery, and blue form fitting top, the only exception being that she was wearing a red skirt on her lower body, her blue, form fitting outfit only reaching up to her waist area. She also had blonde wavy hair as opposed to his black hair.

The woman in the middle was something else entirely. She seemed to have long silky black hair, dark alluring eyes, and wore armer and an outfit that made her seem like an obvious replacement for Thor. She also carried a shield, a sword, and a whip with her, and had a muscle tone that made it obvious that she had some sort of military training, though somehow her feminine charm seemed to be fully intact, because she seemed to have the kind of beauty that many men would go to battle and die for.

"Superman, Wonder Woman, and Supergirl, all extra terrestrials just like Thor. I can see why you chose them as candidates, though I had no idea that Wonder Woman was still on the planet, I assumed she might have left a long time ago." Steve said as if he was merely talking about the weather.

"Wonder Woman? Who the hell is Wonder Woman?" Bruce Banner asked with more than a little curiosity.

"I gotta say, I'm also very intrigued by this. I didn't know such a woman existed." Clint added.

"I don't think anyone knew about this person, how the hell do you know about her?" Natasha asked with a mixture of curiosity and suspicion.

"A very good question. I didn't expect anyone here to know about her either, not even you Rogers. Information on Wonder Woman's existence is probably the most classified material in the histroy of The United States." Fury deadpanned, everyone now looking at Steve with unrestrained intrigue and curiosity.

"I know about her because I am her successor, or at least was." Steve stated matter of factly.

"What? What does that mean exactly Captain Mysterio?" Tony asked irritably, fed up with all the mystery and suspense and quite honestly miffed at the fact that Steve knew so much more about this than he did.

"Like I said earlier, she is an extra terrestrial, but what you probably don't know is that she is the first extra terrestrial to ever ally him or herself with any earthly military unit. She served in the United States Army in the first world war, and the illegal human experiments that Hydra later performed on me and Bucky were an effort on their part to match the military prowess of Wonder Woman, as of course, she was single handedly decimating armies. By the time I was created she had already left the army and disappeared off of the face of the earth, but Hydra didn't know that, and feared for her return, and of course, the American Government ran their own experiments. To simplify it all, her existence and presence in the United States Army, was the catalyst that led to my creation." Steve explained carefully and thoroughly.

"That...that can't possibly be true. How come I have never heard of this?" Rhodey asked in disbelief.

"Yeah Captain, mind telling us how you know of all this?" Tony asked with a derigatory tone.

"What part of 'he was her successor' does he need to explain to you?" Sam retaliated, even though he himself was hearing about this for the first time.

"That doesn't mean anything, because there is a very small list of people who know about Wonder Woman's existence and most of them are already dead. Right now, there are only six of us who know about her, and you were never on that list." Fury said with a suspicious tone.

"Okay enough of this! I didn't vote for you over him so that you can treat him like an outcast. I nominated and voted for you because I thought you were the right person to create stability and direction for the Avengers. Why does it seem like every meeting is going to be a Steve Rogers interogation?" Natasha snapped angrily.

"Oh really? You're going to blame us for that? Despite the fact that he disappeared for two years and did God knows what in all that time? Despite the fact that he refuses to tell us where he was and what he was up to? Despite the fact that he all but admitted to harboring an international terrorist, who happens to be his best friend, and despite the fact that he seems to have information regarding things that he shouldn't know about? Depite all of that...how can you still be blind to the person he really is? What kind of hold does he have over you?" Tony snapped, rendering Natasha completely mute, after all, what possible retort could she have to that, because Tony's argument was as solid as they came, or at least she thought.

"Wonder Woman was a legend in the army when I served. A lot of people believed that she was a myth and never existed, but I did my own investigation and found out the truth. It really wasn't as hard to find the truth at the time as you might think. That's all there is to it." Steve cut through the thick atmosphere.

"How exactly did you conduct this investigation?" Fury asked with a combination of curiosity and suspicion.

 _'My love, this is no doubt a stressfull experience for you, but you must endure. You may not realise it yet, but you are already showing signs of disinterest and disengagement with the Avengers. You care less about what the others think about you than you did before, and you're no longer hesitant about insighting conflict, in fact, it might even be possible that you are subconsciously doing it on purpose, to make it easier for you to leave when the time comes. The fact of the matter is that your heart is no longer with the Avengers but with Universe. Universe is your real family, and soon, you, Sam, and I will leave this organisation.'_ Wanda thought elatedly, doing everything in her power to suppress the smirk that was threatening to split her face into two.

"Irrelevant. Some of you were not even born when this happened. Can you please finish up your briefing? This is taking longer than it should." Steve countered.

"I'm sorry to interupt Captain, but are you alright man? You seem...different. I understand that a lot of people don't share everything about themselves and what they get up to when they aren't around the rest of us, but I just think that people aren't used to you in particular having so many secrets. I think it makes them...worry." Clint tried a more diplomatic approach.

"When you have lived as long as I have, you come to realise that people change over time. Change can sometimes be a bad thing, but that is not always the case. You of all people should understand Clint, that a man who has someone other than himself to live for is different from a man who only has to worry about himself. It puts a major shift in his prioreties." Steve replied with a meaningful look across the table at his girlfriend, Wanda unable to stop the red from spreading across her cheeks.

"I love you too honey." Wanda said happily.

"Oh God I think I'm gonna puke." Tony remarked.

"We'll discuss this some other time, for now let us focus on the candidates. I'm assuming you all already know about Superman and Supergirl, but in case you don't, let me fill you in a little bit about them. They are aliens from the no longer existing planet Krypton. They have super human strength, skin as hard as steel, super human speed, x-ray vision, and telescopic vision. They can also shoot lazer beams from their eyes, can cause a mini hurricane with their breathe, and can freeze things with their breathe. They only have two known weaknesses, a green rock known as Kryptonite that comes from their planet, and the Red Sun of Krypton or a UV light that mimicks the properties of the Red Sun. Are there any questions so far?" Fury asked.

"Aaaah yeah! Like how the hell are we supposed to beat them? They sound invincible!" Clint argued.

"I thought we were only trying to recruit them, not fight them." Steve remarked.

"If they refuse to join willingly, we might have to use force to bring them in. But before you explode on me, remember that we only have to recruit one of them, and that we will only use force as a last resort." Fury said hastily.

"Why use force at all though?" Sharon asked with a confused frown.

"Have you actually met Superman? This is the guy who told the US Military to go screw itself when they tried to recruit him into the army. This is the guy who blatantly declared that he will do whatever it is that he wants, whenever it is that he wants to do it. The only reason the government hasn't arrested him yet is because they are too afraid of what he might do to them if they tried. Make no mistake, he is a very dangerous man." Fury said with a grave tone.

"What the hell are you on about man? Superman is a hero. He has done nothing but protect Metropolis and its people. The people love him and he loves them too. He even killed his own kind when they tried to invade and terraform the earth. Superman isn't a threat to anyone that isn't a threat themselves. If you find Superman to be a threat, it is more likely that you are in fact the threat to society, and only deem him a threat because he might interfere or outright stop your own sinister plans." Sam argued.

"Did you fall on your head as a baby or something? We are talking about an extra terrestrial spieces that has come to Earth and decided that he will do as he pleases whenever he pleases. How can we possibly not feel threatened by that. So far he hasn't harmed anyone, but what if that were to change one day? What if one day he decided that humans were not worth his protection anymore?" Rhodey countered.

"Carry on treating him like an enemy and that is exactly what will happen, not because it was his plan all along, but because you turned him into an enemy and left him with no choice. Fear is the most dangerous emotion in the world, and the root of a great many disasters. Don't let it control you." Steve said with a voice of wisdom.

"I'm not being fearful, it's called sanity, something that you two seem to lack in spades." Rhodey retorted defensively.

"It doesn't matter if Superman is good or not, he is not above the law. And even if you think we are wrong, you can't say being prepared for the worst is not the right move. We need to find out how well the Avengers can fare against these aliens. The more peaceful way is if one of them join us willingly, because by fighting alongside them, we can study them more accurately and learn more about their powers. If they don't come peacefully, then fighting them also enables us to learn more about their strengths and weaknesses." Fury explained.

"We have the Hulk and the Vision on our side. Vision can counter their lazer beams with his own lazer beam that he can shoot with his infinity stone. Their ability to fly is negated by his own ability to fly. He can match their super strength by increasing the density of his body and he also has a near impenetrable skin because it is made of vibranium. Hulk also has a near impenetrable skin and super strength. If you can have Hulk backed up by Ironman and War Machine, then they can provide the long range support and use their own flight to stop the Kryptonian from simply flying away from the Hulk. Vision can take care of a Kryptonian on his own I believe, and besides all that, I'm sure you have one of either a Red Sun UV device or Kryptonite already." Steve came up with a solid plan and analysis in the blink of an eye, a complete silence taking over the meeting room, even Sam and Wanda marvelling at how quickly Cap was able to come up with that plan.

"So what do the rest of you do while we're all risking our lives against these super powered aliens? Make some popcorn and enjoy the fireworks?" Tony asked in his typical snide manner.

"Your plan is solid Captain America, except for one problem. Wonder Woman has been spotted in National City. We're not sure exactly what she is doing there but we suspect that it might have something to do with the unusual number of extra terrestrials that have been spotted there in the last two years." Maria countered.

"Then leave superman alone in the meantime and have Vision on stand by in case Wonder Woman joins Supergirl in the battle."

"We can't do that either. Superman often comes to Supergirl's aid whenever she is in danger, and he flies fast enough to make it to National City in a matter of minutes, maybe even seconds. If any team is going there, it will likely have to be everyone pulling in together." Sharon argued in a soft spoken tone, even though there was strength and wisdom laced in it.

"Okay fine. Scarlett Witch, Falcon, and I will take care of Wonder Woman. Hulk, War Machine, and Ironman will take care of Superman, and Vision will take care of Supergirl. I believe that would be the best tactical match-up." Steve concluded.

"And what about the rest of us?" Natasha asked indignantly, unable to help but feel defensive about not being included in the tactical set-up despite her outstanding service to the Avengers thus far, even if she had to say so herself.

"You guys would be the back-up. You would be carrying the weaponized Kryptonite and/or Red Sun UV weapon that Fury no doubt has already had made. If things went South, then your assistance would be greatly needed."

"You really think things can go South? I mean, it seems like a solid tactical line up for me. Not even a Kryptonian should be able to win against those odds." Maria asked with uncertainty.

"There is a possibility that some other outside force would interfere with the battle, and we also must remember that Supergirl doesn't work alone. The Martian Manhunter J'onn J'onnz is also a formidable foe and Alex Danvers has aquired a weaponized suit that exponentially enhances her fighting prowess, to the point that she has even given Kryptonians a bit of a hard time. The back-up would be needed no doubt, though if I can help it, there won't be any fighting at all." Steve instructed almost as if he was still the leader of the Avengers.

"Why does it still seem like we are outnumbered even though we have more man power? And why on earth do you keep using 'could' and 'would' in your sentences?" Tony asked with a figurative question mark hanging over his head.

"You're right...you know what? Have your ironman sentries on stand buy as well. They would provide a good distraction at worst, and would be the ace in the hole at best. Either way, our chances would increase exponentially."

"You guys really think you could lose?" Clint asked in disbelief.

"No, but we would have to use all the resources we have to make the job easier and smoother. We wouldn't want it to drag on nor do we want any collateral damage, otherwise what is the difference between us and the bad guys? Hopefully our targets would agree to fight us outside of the City, that is to say, if it came down to it." Steve explained patiently.

"And there he goes with the 'coulds', 'woulds', and 'ifs' again." Tony said irritably.

"I haven't decided if I'm on board with this plan yet, in fact, I know that I'm totally against it, but it doesn't seem like I have much of a say in it." Steve said with resignation.

"You're a little too accepting of this aren't you? I must say I'm quite disappointed, I expected a little more resistance from you." Natasha teased.

"I'm not in charge anymore. I can't decide what missions we take and which ones we don't anymore. The best I can do is to make sure that no innocent people die, and that we get things done as peacefully as possible." Steve retorted.

"So what are we doing? We going after all three of them? I thought we only wanted one recruit?" Sam asked with a piercing gaze directed at Nick Fury.

"We're going after Wonder Woman. Her fighting style and culture resemble Thor's the most, and she is the most isolated, and therefore, the most vulnerable andtheoretically, the most likely to seek companionship. She has served in the American Military before, and is Captain America's heroine, so maybe he can find a way to bond with her and convince her to join our cause. If we can get her to join peacefully, then there won't be any violence whatsoever." Nick ordered authoratively.

"So Captain America, Scarlett Witch, and Falcon will be going in first?" Maria asked for confirmation.

"Precisely..."

 **00000000000**

"Daddy!" Lucy exclaimed as she ran and jumped onto Steve, wrapping her strong legs around his waist and her arms around his neck and squeezing tight as if this was the last time that she would ever see him again, nuzzling her head against the crook of his neck and making a sound that almost made it seem like she was purring.

"I missed you so much! I wish you didn't have to go so often." Lucy whined like a child much younger than she is, younger than she is mentally that is, because by birth, she was less than two years old.

"H...hey! Lucy how many times do I have to tell you not to jump on your daddy like that!" Wanda scolded indignantly, trying to pull her daughter away from her dad but failing miserably, Lucy tighting her already iron clad grip on Steve and refusing to let go.

"But why? I like it this way."

"Lucy! D..don't say stuff like that! It's totally inappropriate."

"It doesn't feel inappropriate though, besides, I've seen you do it many times before."

"Lucy...! I'm warning you!" Wanda exclaimed with more than a little frustration, her eyes glowing red as she prepared to witch her daughter off of her husband.

"Uuummmm! Lucy, I think you should probably listen to your mom before she hurts both of us...badly..." Steve trailed off nervously.

"Aaaaw you guys are no fun." Lucy pouted as she finally disengaged.

"That's one strange family." Bucky said to Sonny, who was standing right next to him.

"I'm sorry Mr. Barnes sir, but I was under the impression that it was normal for a daughter to display a strong affection for her father, especially when it is a good and loving one like our Captain." Sonny replied with a confused facial expression, Bucky turning his head to the side and looking at the NS-5 Robot as if he had just grown a second head before shaking his head hopelessly.

"I give up on you." Bucky said with a heavy sigh, a confused facial expression, yes, facial expression, morphing onto Sonny's face.

"Hey Sonny, Bucky, what's up?" Sam greeted as he shook both Bucky's and Sonny's hands, internally wincing both times at the strength of the enhanced human and the robot, his pride not allowing him to point out the fact that their hand shakes were just too damn hard.

"I'm fine thank you Mr. Wilson, what about you?" Sonny asked politely.

"Nah I'm alright man, just glad to be a part of the team you know." Sam replied casually.

"Why are you being so nice all of a sudden, is there something that you want?" Bucky asked suspiciously.

"There is actually. I just wanted to apologise for how I behaved when we met yesterday. I should have been more objective about the whole thing, and I guess I was a little jealous as well, you know I was Steve's go to man and confidant while you were gone and well...you guys have a history together. I just...I understand now that it doesn't have to be one or the other. We're both his friends and we're all fighting for the same thing. We aint gotta be enemies or even rivals. So umm...yeah mayn I hope there aint no hard feelings." Sam apologised sincerely, even though he was spotting his scary/macho tone and facial expression, Bucky sizing him up with a piercing gaze before finally relenting.

"It's cool. I'm also sorry for the things I did when I was under the influence of Hydra, and I will try to make up for all the wrongs I did for the rest of my life. I am glad that Steve was able to make a friend like you though, and I'm happy for him and his family." Bucky replied as he watched the family banter between Lucy, Steve, and Wanda.

"Yeah. This family man, it's irrefutable proof of the humantarian nature and the purity of Cap's heart man." Sam said with a nostalgic expression.

"What do you mean?" Bucky asked curiously.

"Well I mean, his girlfriend is an Eastern European foreigner, and his daughter is an African American android, and he loves them unconditionally and doesn't see them as anything other than as his family. No bias, no racism, no speciesm, nothing. Just pure, unconditional love. Now that's something worth fighting for man, something worth protecting." Sam replied, both Sonny and Bucky nodding their heads in agreement.

"I totally agree, though I'm not sure if speciesm is even a word." Bucky said with a small chuckle, Sonny also smiling amusedly at Bucky's retort.

"Man shut up, of course it's a real word!" Sam retorted defensively, the two of them trading light insults for a few minutes before Steve called them over for a meeting, Steve explaining to them in detail, everything that happened in the meeting at the Avengers Tower.

"So why do you guys get to have all the fun and the rest of us just have to sit around here and do nothing?" Lucy whined with a cute, kitten like pout.

"Actually, that's exactly why I called for this meeting. If you recall, Wanda and I were going to go after Crossbones tommorrow afternoon, but because of this mission, we won't be able to do that. So I want the three of you to go after him in our steed. Capture him alive if you can, but eliminate him if capturing him will put innocent people at risk. You'll be undertaking the mission in Wakanda, so I expect stealth to be at the forefront of your actions. The team Captain will be Bucky, and Sonny, your main body will remain in the base so that you can protect it on the off chance of an invasion, regardless of how unlikely it is. Send as many of your NS-5 sentries as you deem fit for the the mission though. Lucy, try not to play with your prey this time, there are lives at stake." Steve commanded authoritively.

"I know that dad." Lucy pouted.

"I know sweetie, but I have to say it anyway." Steve said, the intensity in his eyes evaporating instantly as his eyes softened lovingly.

"So, any questions?" Steve asked, the authority and intensity in his tone returning tenfold.

"..."

"Okay then..."

"I have a question..." Bucky said with a low tone, to the point that, for a second there, Steve, even with his enhanced hearing, almost wondered if Bucky had spoken at all or if he had just imagined it.

"Yes, what is it Buck?" Steve asked curiously.

"When you recruit Wonder Woman, are you going to recruit her for us or for the Avengers?" Bucky asked, a question that Steve had to say caught him a little off guard.

"Hmmmm...I actually don't know. It doesn't feel right to steal from the Avengers though, those are still my comrades. It was their idea to recruit Wonder Woman and it was they that found her, so I think I will recruit her for them. If she later finds out about Universe and decides she would rather be part of Universe...well, that's an entirely different thing then isn't it...?" Steve trailed off with a mischievious smirk.

"Hmmm...I think mom is starting to rub off on you dad." Lucy rolled her eyes as she said that, causing everyone to laugh at Steve's expense, Wanda holding on tight onto Steve's left arm as she replied to her daughter.

"I wouldn't be a good partner if I didn't have that kind of influence on my own man." Wanda retorted.

"Wow man, it sounds like she got the whipping on you Cap." Sam laughed.

"Okay, it seems like it's my turn to be the butt of all jokes today." Steve said in dismay.

"Don't worry my love, I'll make sure you forget all about that tonight." Wanda purred seductively, causing Steve to wish he could just drop everything right then and there and help Wanda make him forget like she promised.

"Case in point." Sam retorted triumphantly, again, everyone laughing jovially at their captain's predicament.

"Ahem! I too have a queation though Cap..." Sam trailed off.

"What is it?" Steve asked curiously.

"Won't the others be a little bummed to hear that everyone else went on a top notch mission and they got left out?"

"You mean Kickass, Batman, Flash, and Green Arrow?" Steve asked.

"Yeah."

"Well, I'm sure they all have their work cut out protecting their cities right now, and even if not, they understand that we can't expose the existence of Universe just yet. Tommorrow, the world will simply think that the Winter Soldier and Crossbones were fighting over a bio-weapon. They won't suspect anything about the existence of Universe. But if they see the Winter Soldier collaborating with the Green Arrow, The Flash, Batman, and KickAss, then they know something is up." Steve explained.

"But if the headline reads that I, an international criminal, was seen fighting another international criminal for the possession of a bio weapon, doesn't that just feed on the horrible image that I already have?" Bucky asked with concern.

"He's got a point honey. You must also remember what Fury said. He said if Bucky...nevermind." Wanda trailed off with a sinister smirk.

"Oh no I know that look! What are you up to mom?" Lucy asked suspiciously.

"Nothing honey, I just realised what a great plan Steve has come up with. I won't permitt anymore questions on this matter, only that you trust that Steve has a plan, you will see what I mean through the sequence of events that will follow after tommorrow." Wanda said authoratively, everyone looking at each other with confused expressions before simultaneously shrugging their shoulders, knowing very well there was little chance of breaking down the defenses of the local mind raping expert, though Steve was determined to have a word with her in a more private setting, hoping to find out what exactly she was on about.

 _'Oh my love. This is perfect. Fury will be pissed about Bucky's activities tommorrow, and if all bets come off like he said they would, this will lead to the final conflict that will inevitably lead you straight into our arms. The Universe Project will officially come to life!'_ Wanda thought excitedly.

"Okay I trust you...even though I really have no idea how you think this will turn out good in the end." Bucky conceded.

"Good. I want you all to prepare for tommorrow's activities. Bucky, Lucy, Sonny, take the private jet and fly on stealth mode all the way there. You have an hour to prepare. I want you to spend the night there so that you can do early surveilance and reconeissance, we can't afford for this mission to have an major hiccups. In the meantime I will personally go see Barry, Dave, Bruce, and Oliver so that they don't freak out when they hear the news tommorrow. I wish you all the best of luck, and I love you all."

 **000000000000**

"Dude! I mean boss...what the hell man...eh...boss why the hell do you look like an old man!" Barry freaked out as soon he heard the voice of the old man who just sat right in front of him, on the restuarant table and seat that was supposed to be occupied by his Captain, Steve Rodgers.

"I'm not your boss Barry, I'm you leader, and your friend...there's a difference. As for why I look like an old man, well, one would think a 21st century nerd like you would be familiar with the concept of make-up and role playing for the purpose of espionage."

"Yes I'm aware of that obviously, I just don't know why you are role playing, even though I must say you surprisingly make quite a good looking old man." Barry retorted with a chuckle.

"Well, you didn't really think I would ask you to dinner at a public place like this and then appear as myself did you? Even if I wanted to come out of the closet as Captain Universe, it wouldn't make sense to meet Barry Allen in public unless I wanted to blow his cover as you know who." Steve retorted.

"You know who? Are you seriously quoting Harry Porter right now? What am I, Lord Voldeflash?" Barry retorted sarcastically, shaking his head when Steve looked at him funny, just now remembering that Steve really was the age that he looked right now, and in fact much older than what he looked, which is probably why he didn't know of or care much about Harry Porter.

"Nevermind that. Just tell me what's up, something big must have happened for you to break protocol like this." Barry said with a serious expression etched on his facial features.

"Nothing much happened, I just wanted to check up on you. It's been a while since we've relaxed like this, just the two of us. In fact, it only happened once, on the day that I recruited you, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to spend some time with you." Steve replied casually.

"Oh...yeah...you're right. There's always the other members around when we meet up."

"Exactly. So how are you doing? Everything alright in Central City? And how's the team?" Steve asked curiously.

"Everything is alright in the City, just normal stuff, hunting down and catching bad metahumans. Not all is good with the team though. I mean, I've been training them the way you trained me, and that side of things has worked out so far. Killer Frost and Vibe have improved the most. They no longer fear their powers and have come to embrace them, and I've been teaching them teamwork and battle tactics, and how to take pain. Kid Flash is awesome, it's easier to teach him because I know a lot about the speed force. However, Firestorm is a problem, it's really difficult to get Doctor Stein and Jackson to work together, but it is improving, just slowly. As for Hawk Girl, well, she went to live in Star City as soon as we found Hawk Guy, they are working with The Green Arrow now. Cisko was bummed out about it, but he's getting over it...eventually." Barry went on and on in an extemely rapid manner.

"It seems like everything is okay, but I sense something is bothering you." Steve said in an inquiring tone.

"Yes well, the relationship between me and my team is strained at the moment..." Barry trailed off.

"Because of your involvement with Universe?"

"...Yes. Don't get me wrong Cap I'm happy to be a part of Universe, and I don't regret making the decision to join. It's just that, keeping this big a secret, I'm not that good at it. The others can tell I'm hiding something from them, I've caught them following me on many occassions and they keep asking where I disappear to at times. The trust is slowly evaporating. Joe and Iris think I'm in some kind of trouble, the others think I got this big bad secret, like I'm in league with Zoom or the Reverse Flash or something." Barry said, a bitter sweet smile morphing onto his facial features.

"Sounds like this is doing quite a bit of a number on you. Don't worry about it too much though, very soon, we will be out in the open, everyone will know the truth, and if they are still angry about it, then it's on them and not you. You gave me your word that you would keep our secret, you gave everyone at Universe your word. They have to decide if the Barry they love is the kind of man who breaks his promises, or the kind of man who is honourable, whose word is his bond." Steve said with the utmost conviction.

"You make it sound so easy."

"It is easy. If anyone is to blame, then it is me. Now if they hate me and blame me when they learn the truth...then...they will be justified." Steve said with a small smirk.

"Hehehe! You know...I don't know what to say. This whole thing is just messed up."

"It is I guess, but you have to remember Barry, you're not married to any of them nor especially are you a little child. You have your own life outside of them, and they don't have to know every single thing about it. You love them, you care about them, you would even risk your life in a hearbeat for them, and you're always there to support them when they need it. That should be good enough. I'm not saying you should bully them or treat them like they are any less than they are, but you need to have boundaries, and they need to understand that even though you are their friend, surrogate brother, surrogate son or whatever, that you are also their leader. You're not a little boy anymore and they need to see that. I mean, I'm not omniscient, so I could be wrong, but that is my take on the situation."

"No...no you're not wrong. I just...I guess I'm not manly enough..." Barry trailed off, his head hanging low in shame and embarassment.

"W-what? That's not what I was saying...!"

"Oh no no no I know! I know it's not, but if you really think about it, I'm sure you'll realise it too."

"Barry where is this coming from?" Rogers asked with a deep frown.

"The other day, I'm sure he didn't mean to hurt me, but Joe said something. He was comparing me...well he was using his Dad Cop persona on Wally and when he told me about it, I asked why he'd never used it on me and you know what he said? He said that he didn't need to because unlike Wally, I overshare a lot, and he then said that I'm like a second daughter to him." Barry said with a shaky voice, tears threatening to spill from his eyes and his body shaking almost as if he were in physical pain.

"Hey Barry cut that out. Do you honestly think I would have recruited you if I thought you were not man enough to be a member of Universe? And what does being a man have to do with anything? Look at Wanda, hell look at Lucy? They're both women, but look how strong they are, both mentally and in combat."

"So you agree? You agree with Joe?"

"No. I don't think you're girly. I do think you're more emotional than most men your age but most men your age didn't have their mother killed right in front of their eyes by a metahuman when they were just a kid, and they didn't have everyone dismiss the truth about what really happened and have their dad spend almost his entire life in prison after that for something he didn't even do. Most men your age were never in a coma for nine months after getting struck by lightning and they don't have to balance two seperate lives, one involving battling against dangerous super villains almost on a daily basis. Being emotional doesn't mean you're not a man Barry, it just means you're human...or in your case metahuman." Rogers trailed off at the end with a small chuckle.

"Hahahaha! That's a good one." Barry laughed lightly.

"So how do I get over this...how do I suppress these emotions?" Barry asked desperately.

"You don't suppress them, you just find a private way to release them. For me, I wear my tracksuit and my trainers and hit the ground running. Sometimes I'll run for hours non stop, and the more stressed I am the harder I push myself. It's not just running though, I do all sorts of intense training, that's how I release all of my emotions. Just take everything out on the gym equipment. I probably would have joined a boxing club or something but that's too dangerous for obvious reasons, I can't even hit a punching bag without punching a hole through it." Rogers said with a longing sigh.

"Wow that's gotta really suck, not being able to have a punching bag to take your frustrations out on." Barry said humerously.

"My problem is different from yours though, actually, it's the opposite of yours. I could do punching bags no problem, but I can't run to take out my frustrations for fear that I might accidentally time travel."

"Wow, that's a whole different ball game right there. In any case, there is something else I wanted to talk to you about Barry, and I can't stay long because I plan to visit the others as well tonight." Steve started.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" Barry asked curiously.

"I authorised the first official Universe Assignment today. Bucky, Lucy, and Sonny are on their way to Wakanda as we speak in order to capture or eliminate Rumlow, who now goes by the name Crossbones. So if anything comes up on the news, don't be surprised okay." Steve said with a calming tone.

"Yeah of course, no problem Cap. Is there anything you need me to do?"

"No. I only told you because well...Bucky is still known as an international criminal, and we believe that Crossbones is after some sort of bio tech weapon in Wakanda. Now you can imagine, two international criminals fighting over a bio tech weapon in Wakanda. If this gets to the news then it will be made to look much worse than it is. Best case scenario is that they get to him before he steals the weapon." Steve said with a grave undertone.

"Oh...yeah...I can see how bad that could get, but at the same time we can't let Rumlow get his hands on something like that."

"Exactly. So here's what I'm going to need from you, Arrow, KickAss, and Batman..." Steve went on as he went over his plan with Barry, a conversation that he went on to repeat with Dave, Oliver, and Bruce, all on that same night.

It was two in the morning by the time he got back home, his time with Oliver, Dave, and even Bruce, who wasn't usually that talkative, having taken much longer than anticipated. Normally it would be a very bad thing for a person to sleep that late when they had such an important mission the following day, however, considering that he only had to sleep once or twice a week, then it wasn't really much of a bother for him. Then again, this was Wonder Woman that he was going to have a showdown with, so maybe a little rest was not a bad idea at all.

"It's a little late for an old man to be out and about isn't it?" Wanda said with a playful tone, jolting Steve out of his own mind and back into the real world.

"I could say the same for you, young one." Steve retorted with a small smile, his eyes trailing his girlfriend's body up and down with lust and wonder, unable to believe just how sexy she looked in that black and red lingerie she was wearing.

"You perverted old man you! If I didn't have such a busy day tommorrow, I would help you feel young again tonight." Wanda said seductively, wrapping her right leg around Steve's waist as she pulled him in for a short, soft and sensual kiss.

"You already make me feel like I want to live forever." Steve said as he broke the kiss with the love of his life, holding her tightly in his arms, with his right hand brushing up and down on her silky hair.

"You will live forever silly, you don't really age at all." Wanda rolled her eyes at the Captain, you still looked like a withered old man, not having removed his make-up yet.

"Yes, but there's a difference between merely having the potential to live forever, and wanting to live forever." Steve countered, Wanda's eyes widening slightly in realisation.

"Did I mention how much I love you?" Wanda said with a dazzling smile.

"You might have mentioned it before, but I wouldn't mind hearing it again. You can even show me just how much if you want..." Steve whispered into her ear, knowing very well that that was one of her weaknesses, all thoughts of resting for tommorrow's activities going out the window as the young...eh...sort of young couple completely failed to resist each other, even for one night.

 **Following Morning: 08:30**

"Hello Diana Vaspuli, or should I rather say, Diana Prince?" Steve greeted over the phone.

"W-who is this? How do you know that name?" The woman on the other end asked with a barely detectable hint of nervousness, but nervousness nonetheless. She is a very beautiful woman, and with long dark hair and deep, dark eyes, impossibly smooth skin and an athletic, strong looking and yet curvacious and obviously feminine body, wearing only a short, white night gown on her person.

"My name is Steve Rodgers, you might know me better as Captain America." Steve replied simply, giving her a moment to digest the information, and just as well as Diana's heart jumped to her throat in that moment, never in her lifetime having expected to get a call from Captain America himself.

"W-what do you want? How did you find me? How did you get the number for this hotel room?" Diana stuttered, internally cursing at herself for showing any sort of weakness to this man, even if he was the great and honorable Captain America.

"I had help from a good friend of mine..." Steve trailed off as he cast an eye on Sonny, who of course was the AI that was running the Heroes Of The Universe headquaters and also had a main body that he controlled to move around, and hundreds of NS-5 sentries that he controlled, basically making him a strong contender for the most powerful member of the association.

"but rest assured, you can trust him, he will not tell anyone anything that we have found out about you. Your secrets are safe with us." Steve replied re-assuringly.

"I'm supposed to take your word for it?" Diana asked with a distrustful undertone.

"My word is my bond, and if I break it against your will, feel free to deal with me as you see fit." Steve said with a sincere tone.

"Easy for you to say that when you are hundreds of miles away." Diana retorted.

"Let's meet for lunch then. I've already made reservations for two at the National City Cousine for 12:00 pm. I will be there alone, and I will be un-armed." Steve replied.

"..."

"Do not be afraid. You were...are my heroe, my role model. In the military, I was created because of you, to fill the void that you left behind. I was meant to be your successor, and it was you who inspired me to become what I am today, you and a close friend of mine. I will not betray you, nor allow any harm to befall you, not that you need my protection of course."

"Do not get ahead of yourself. You are nothing for me to fear, I have survived far worse than you..." Diana trailed off.

"but your words have moved me, so I will show up for this lunch date of yours. Do not expect anything beyond that, I will only come so that I can interogate you in person. Do we understand one another?" Diana retorted fiercely, causing Steve to involuntarily swallow hard at that, starting to question whether he should actually go through with this or not.

 _'She's just as scary as Wanda...maybe even worse.'_ Steve thought with trepidition.

"That's fine by me. I can't wait to see you in person, and I have an appetising proposition for you...hello...hel...did she just hang up on me?"

"I believe that is exactly what happened Captain." Sonny replied with an amused smile, Steve looking at him with a weird expression on his facial features.

"What is it sir? Is there something on my face?"

"Yes. An amused smile. That's quite impressive. At this rate, you'll have human emotions down in no time at all." Steve said with a genuine smile.

"Thank you Captain Universe sir."

"..."

"Yeah, well, anyway, how's your mission going so far?" Steve asked curiously.

"Lucy and I created an alghorythm to help us determine, based on his recent actions and projections of his future actions, what Rumlow is likely to be targetting in Wakanda. Results came back with a 76 percent chance that he will be going after a bio weapon that is secured in a building located directly in the middle of the captial. We have my sentries hidden all around the building and we have some of them taking spots in high positions to watch over the city. Black Cat and Winter Soldier have taken cover on the ground near the building. It's only a matter of time now." Sonny explained.

"Good. Tell them to be prepared for anything, and not to underestimate Rumlow. I'm on my way to the Avengers Tower and my mission has already begun, so I won't be available for most of the day. We'll rendezvous at the end of the day. Good luck." Steve said as he made his way towards the teleportation machine, getting into the elevator looking device as he spoke the secret code that activates the teleportation.

"Good luck to you too Captain." Sonny replied as the doors to the 'elevator' closed, effectively activating the teleportation.

Meanwhile, at National City Hotel, Diana couldn't stop pacing around her room, concern, suspicion, intrigue, and excitement all entangled together into one powerful emotion. Her reason for coming to National City was because of Superman. Of course, Superman was in Metropolis and lived there instead of National City, but Diana knew that she had to get proper intel on the man before approaching him, and she also knew that that it wouldn't hurt to have him owe her one or two for saving his only living relative, Supergirl, if she ever got into trouble, which was a lot of the time recently because of the number of extra terrestrial attacks on the city. It would also help if his only living relative had nothing but praise and kind words to say about her to Superman.

Another tactical advantage of coming to National City instead of going straight to Metropolis was that, if Superman came to National City as he often does, he would have to be hundreds of miles away from his girlfriend Lois Lane, making him easier prey for her. She hadn't actually met superman, and she knew that her anormament with him had no real foundation, but she couldn't help how much she was attracted to him. She'd tried to get over it, she'd tried to ignore it, for a long time, but she had failed. She figured that, even if ultimately he rejected her, at least she would be able to move on. That didn't mean she was going to do anything half assed though.

She had a plan to worm her way into his inner circle, and her plan had to appear to be a mere coincidence or an act or fate. Either way, she would bide her time until she got her way with the man of steel, and she would use his cousin and his friends to get close to him. She would win them over, and in doing so, ultimately win him over too. Her mother had always told her that she should find a strong mate to help her conceive the next Amazon princess, and she had always felt that she should marry for love and not simply because of status and power, but in Superman, she believed she could satisfy both her own desires and her mother's.

So, with all this in mind, why and how the hell did she end up going on a lunch date with Captain America? And why on earth was she so excited about it? Granted, Captain America was a handsome and honorable man, and a great warrior in his own right, however, his genetic composition was not natural like Clark Kent, he was the product of experimentation, and to have that kind of tainted dna one day produce an heiress for the Amazons? Would it really be wise to mate with him?

 _'Why am I even thinking about that nonsense? I don't plan to bare a child for at least another 100 years, besides, I came here to kick start my mission to win Superman's affections, Captain America is...not irrelevant, but not my focus right now. I'll hear what he has to say and then I'll be done with him.'_ Diana thought with conviction, though she couldn't shake off the goosebumps whatsoever, the excitement refusing to curb itself.

 **0000000000**

"Where the hell have you been? We are two hours behind schedule because of you!" Natasha exclaimed indignantly.

"Didn't Scarlett Witch tell you that Cap was running down a lead?"

"Yes he did Sam, except running down a mythical lead doesn't qualify as a legitimate excuse now does it?" Tony retorted.

"Everyone calm down down. I'm sure Cap has a very good reason for being late. He's literally never done this before, so he deserves the benefit of the doubt." Clint retorted.

"Yeah and he never disappeared for two years without any explanation either before, but here we are." Rhodey retorted.

"Give the man a chance to explain himself, jumping to conclusions will not solve anything. Why don't you tell us yourself where you were Mr Rogers?" Fury asked with a calm and neutral facade. They were flying on a Hellicarrier, though it was on stealth mode so no one could see or track it, and it was twenty minutes now since they left the headquarters, having waited for over two hours for the cap to return.

"If you must know, I was speaking to Wonder Woman over the phone, and she and I have agreed to meet up for lunch at the National City Cousine..."

"You're going on a date with her?" Wanda exclaimed furiously, her eyes glowing red as she activated her chaos energy, Steve immediately able to feel her trying to penetrate his mind, mounting only a small resistance before deciding to let her in anyway, after all, she always ended up winning no matter how much resistance he put up.

"It's not a date...well it sort of is but it's not a romantic date. I figured she would feel less threatened in a public setting and of course more comfortable if we shared a meal together." Steve tried to explain.

"You're telling the truth, but that doesn't change the fact that you're a rabid fanboy of hers, nor does it change the fact that you find her very attractive."

"I'm...! I'm not a rabid fanboy! I just...she's someone I looked up to that's all. I admire her, but that doesn't mean that I'm persuing a romantic relationship with her. You know better than anyone that there is no one I love more than I love you, and you know I would never cheat on you." Steve retorted.

"I know that you believe wholeheartedly that you would never cheat on me, but you're still a man, a healthy one at that. You and a beautiful woman like Wonder Woman, anything can happen under the right circumstances."

"Unfortunately Scarlett Witch, in as much as I sympathise with your predicament, your romantic troubles are not a priorety right now. If Steve really has organised a sit down with her, then that is exactly what we will do, irrespective of your insecurities!" Fury said with a firm and undesputable tone.

"Oh and if you try to read my mind or any of your other teammates, I will have you locked up and throw away the key." Fury deadpanned, a nasty snarl forming on Wanda's facial expression before being quickly replaced by one of shock and then that of serenity as Steve pulled her into a big, warm hug.

"Don't worry. I will sort everything out very soon." Steve whispered into her ear, causing Wanda's eyes to widen slightly at the meaning of those words, being able to discern exactly what Steve really meant because she was still inside his mind.

"I love you."

"I love you too my red witch." Steve replied with a soft chuckle.

"You know I hate that name so much, except for when you say it like that." Wanda giggled, Steve shaking his head in dismay at that, considering that there wasn't much difference in the meaning behind the words 'scarlet' and 'red'.

"Oh my god I think I'm gonna puke. Honestly, could you two be any more unprofessional?"

"I suppose we could strip naked and bang each other like rabbits right in front of everyone..."

"Enough!" Fury exclaimed, cutting off Wanda before she could finish her retort, though in all honestly it was a little too late because everyone pretty much got the idea of what she was saying.

"There are more important issues than your little...teenage affair. Like for instance, how exactly did you get a hold of Wonder Woman so quickly? How did you get in touch with her at all?" Fury asked suspiciously.

"I had help from a good friend of mine." Steve replied as if he was merely commenting on the weather.

"I don't suppose you'd like to share the identity of this person with the rest of us?" Natasha asked with more than a little curiosity.

"Unfortunately, I couldn't give you that kind of information. What do you call it again, information compartmentalization?" Steve retorted.

"You're still mad about that time we stopped those pirates from taking one Shield's shipping carriers?"

"I...literally don't have a response to that Natasha." Steve replied with a shrug of the shoulders.

"Clint is right, you're different. Has she done something to you?"

"Who?" Wanda asked curiously.

"Who else!" Natasha threw her hands in the air incredulously.

"Oh you mean little ol me? Of course I did, I got him to fall in love with me, and he loves it, and more importantly, he's happy." Wanda retorted.

"Yeah, that's what being bewitched tends to do to a person, make him a happy and loyal little puppy dog." Natasha retorted with withering look directed at Steve.

"I know what you're trying to do Natasha, and it isn't going to work. You can't manipulate me." Steve replied.

"Of course I can't, because Wanda has already made you her puppet."

"You can say or think what you want, and doesn't really matter. Wanda and I are a team, and that is never going to change. Now, I would very much appreciate it if all of you could leave me alone until we reach National City. I have an important meeting with Wonder Woman to prepare for." Steve said with a little too much enthusiasm.

"Just curious, when you say you want all of us to leave you alone until we reach National City, are Sam and Wanda included in that list of people who must leave you alone?" Nick Fury asked, eyes narrowed suspiciously at the super soldier.

"Of course not." Steve replied as he walked away to his compartment in the hellicarrier, a small smirk appearing on both Sam's and Wanda's facial expressions, the rest of the Avengers not amused at all by the Captain's recent behaviour.

"They are going to be helping me defeat Wonder Woman if we end up fighting, why would I deny them the opportunity to brainstorm battle strategies with me..." Steve added.

 **End Chapter**

 **Alright that was the second installment. Things are about to heat up, I promise there will be more action in the next chapter.**

 **So, cap is having lunch with Diana, Wanda can't be taking that very well, but then, she can read his mind so I guess she should be far more secure about it than she is.**

 **Will they manage to recruit Wonder Woman or not? Is this really neccessary or does Fury have another agenda?**

 **Bucky, Lucy, and Sonny will get their own one chapter mini arc in Wakanda, after all, they are main characters too in the story.**

 **What will happen to Bucky if his activities go public? Remember what Fury said about Bucky being involved in another international incident. How will Fury react, and how will Cap react to Fury's reaction?**

 **Who is guarding Universe Corporations while Lucy is gone?**

 **Will shit hit the fan in National City? Will Steve and Wanda get to demonstrate their new found powers and prowess over said powers?**

 **The answers will be provided for in the upcoming chapters, so stay tuned.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Captain America or any other series I might use for inspiration.

 **Author Note:**

 **It has come to my attention that I totally forgot to explain Sonny's background in my previous author notes.**

 **Guys Sonny is based on the movie i-Robot. Yeah, you remember the robot that Will Smith was chasing around and tryna kill, that's the one, except here Steve and Wanda are the ones who created him and the other NS-5 robots.**

 **I already explained that Lucy is based on the character from the Halley Berry series 'Extant', a humanich (mechanical human/ android), she is also secondary antagonist in the that series, right hand to the main antagonist, who is an AI himself. The actress is Kiersey Clemonds (in case you wana know what she looks like).**

 **Thank you and enjoy**

 _ **Unexpected Surprise**_

"Black Cat, Winter Soldier, I have the targets in sight, I repeat, I have the targets in sight. Two modified refuse vehicles heading towards you. Warning: X-ray vision revealed that Crossbones is in partnership with international criminal Shredder and the notorious Foot Clan." Sonny delivered the warning through the communicator.

"Did you just say Shredder? He's former Yakuza isn't he? I find it highly unlikely that he is Hydra, Hydra have not recruited any Asian big hitters as far as I can remember, certainly not of the calibre of Shredder. What do you think Uncle Bucky?" Lucy retorted.

She was wearing her usual superhero attire, that being a black, form fitting one piece latex-leather outfit along with a face mask that covered only the upper part of her head, that being from the nose upwards, the mask also spotting cat-like ears as well. Her eyes were a bright blue, as she had the ability to change her eye colour on a whim, and always changed it to an animalistic blue whenever she was catwoman/black cat, and back to her usual dark brown when she was Lucy Rodgers.

"Don't call me that on the job, you're supposed to use my codename." Bucky rolled his eyes in dismay. He was also wearing his winter soldier gear, complete with a facemask, though his one only covered the lower part of his face. On his right arm one would find quite a sizeable gun and strapped to his back was what appeared to be a silver grey bazooka but was actually so much more than that, making him look even more menacing than he already was.

"In any case, most likely this is a one time deal or temporary partnership formed for the sake of mutual interest. It doesn't matter why they are working together though, not right now at least. What matters is that we stop them from succeeding and bring them in, alive or dead." Bucky said with a dark undertone, made to sound even scarier by the muffling effects on his facemask.

"You make quite a good point sir. So what are your orders?" Sonny asked hastily, realising that Shredder and Crossbones were getting closer and closer to the sky scraper where the bio weapon was situated.

"I'll use my bazooka to seperate them, and then I will take Crossbones. Black Cat, you take out Shredder and Sonny you allocate one sentry each to back us up, and the rest of you (sentries) will take out the Foot Clan. Is everyone clear?" Bucky asked as he fixed his aim up with the bazooka on his left shoulder.

"Yes sir!" Lucy and Sonny both saluted at the same time.

"Good."

"By the way Uncle Bucky how many times do I have to tell you that it's not a bazooka, it's a super sonic convertable warhead..." Lucy's voice got muffled out as Bucky fired the weapon, shooting three powerful waves of supersonic energy towards the three modified garbage trucks that were headed towards them, the impact so devastating that all three vehicles were completely destroyed beyond recognition in a mere second. Unfortunately, none of Crossbones, Shredder, or any of the Foot Clan died from the attack, Bucky watching in dismay as all of them came falling down from above with mini parashoots on.

"Aren't you glad I gave the order to eject now? I told you something smelt fishy about this place. How can such a big city be so quiet in the middle of the day. It should have been buzzing with activity." Shredder said as he and Crossbones landed on the surface of the ground, Crossbones's only response being a low growl eminating from his hoarse throat.

"Such a powerful weapon, and yet you failed to kill even one of them. Aren't you glad that I scared everyone away with that leaked bio weapon threat, imagine how many innocent people you would have killed with your terrible aim." Lucy taunted.

"I didn't miss, they clearly had an ejection contingency set up. They must have realised something was up when they saw the lack of activity. In any case it doesn't matter, I'm going to seperate them and then we're going to go in just like we planned." Bucky ordered as he took aim again, firing another three rounds at the enemy before dropping the bazooka and running straight towards the action from his position, Lucy and Sonny's sentries doing the same as they sort to end the battle before any major damage was done.

"Damn it! Come out and fight us like real men you cowards!" Crossbones shouted out angrily, pushing a large chunk of debris off of him, a chunk so large that no normal human should have been able to move it, much less to throw it away like that as if it was just a piece of furniture, Shredder doing the same to the slab of concrete that was on top of him.

"You've gotten stronger since the last time we met Brock, of course it is quite easy to tell that the key to your strength lies in that piece of hardwear that you're wearing. Remove the machine and all we have is regular, punk ass Brock Rumlow." Bucky said with a derigative tone.

"You...!" Crossbones exclaimed furiously.

"Yes, me...about to eliminate you." Bucky said with a dangerous tone and aura.

"Hahahahahaha! You still think you can kill me that easily? I think you'll find that I don't work like that anymore...aaack!" Crossbones cried as Bucky, with break neck speed, punched him right on the adams apple, sending him flying in the air and then crashing into the ground on his head, the effect so profound that his head gear got detatched and rolled off on to the side.

"Cough...you...cough...son of a bitch! Cough...I'm going to enjoy killing y...what...!" Crossbones exclaimed in disbelief, unable to believe what he was seeing with his eyes. How in the hell had this happened, and how did it happen so fast that he wasn't aware that it had happened until he saw the damn thing in Bucky's hand?

"Hmm...this seems like a very useful piece of tech. A little too many flaws for my tastes, but nothing that can't be fixed. I think this would work well for my protege after we make a few modifications." Bucky said tauntingly, looking over the mechanical arm bracer that he had just pulled off of Crossbone's right arm before throwing it to the side, choosing rather to focus on winning the battle first and then later think about the spoils of war.

"You have a protege? You...? Hah! Don't make me laugh!" Crossbones said incredulously.

"It's over Brock. Give yourself up or die trying to fight, either way I don't care...okay maybe that's a bit of lie, I'd really much rather you died trying to fight me." Bucky said with a grave undertone.

 _'Damn it! If I try to engage him he will definitely put an ass whooping on me without my other mechanical arm. I should have known better than to underestimate him, I shouldn't have let my guard down! Damn it!'_ Crossbones thought in frustration, still unable to believe how easily Bucky had dismantled him, but then again, deep down, he knew he only had himself to blame for underestimating the guy, this was the freaking winter soldier after all.

"You made a mistake coming here Bucky. You should have remembered who was always there whenever they activated you..." Crossbones said with a sinister smirk, Bucky's eyes widenening suddently in realisation, Crossbones revelling at the shock and fear that he saw in Bucky's eyes, also dropping a smoke bomb and moving out of the way when he saw Bucky trying to close the distance between them again.

"Zhelaniye!"

 _'He knows the trigger words...?'_ Bucky thought with surprise, finding it hard to believe a lacky like Rumlow had such a high level clearance in Hydra.

"Rzhavyy. Semnadtsat'. Rassvet...!" Brumlow exclaimed as he just barely dodged a barrage of bullets from Bucky, thankful for having the presence of mind to cloak himself with the smoke bombs before activating the code.

 _'Even with my enhanced sight I can't see anything. This isn't a normal smoke bomb is it...? Also, he's deliberately making long pauses in between each phrase so as to buy himself enough time to find a safer position after revealing himself. He's no fool.'_ Bucky thought analystically, internally but grudgingly applauding Rumlow on his brilliant tactics.

"Pech'. Devyat'.Dobroserdechnyy!" Rumlow exclaimed whilst dodging another barrage of bullets, this time Bucky's aim getting much too close for comfort as one bullet grazed him on the cheek.

 _'Just as I thought, this isn't a normal smoke bomb, the air should have been clearing already. Nevertheless, perhaps the best way to win this war is to lose this battle, or at least, to give the appearance of losing it.'_ Bucky thought with a gleam in his eyes.

"Vozvrashcheniye na rodinu. Odin...!" Rumlow exclaimed again, and once again, finding himself having to dodge another barrage, except this time getting hit twice, once flush on the arm that no longer had its armour, and once on the inside of the thigh, though the one on the thigh only being a flesh found.

"Don't do this Rumlow! You don't have to do this!" Bucky exclaimed with as frightened and devastated a voice as he could master, slightly regretting never taking acting classes like he said he would over half a century ago. Luckily for him, even his sub par acting skills were enough to fool Rumlow, or maybe Rumlow was just too confident in his plan to realise that something was up.

"Gruzovoy vagon...Soldat?" Rumlow said as the smoke finally cleared to reveal a stationery Bucky Barnes, almost as if he were a statue, or a robot, his eyes totally vacant of any emotion or thought whatsoever.

"Gotov ubit' vas!" Bucky said compliently.

"Ahahahahahahahaha! I did it! You thought you had me done in didn't you? Hehehe! With you under my control I can finally...hey wait a minute that's not right..." Rumlow trailed off, his eyes widening with a mixture of surprise and confusion, especially visible for Bucky to savor now that the smoke had cleared, Rumlow realising that the words - _ready to kill you_ \- were not the response that he was supposed to be getting.

"Are you ready to comply...soldier...aaargh!" Rumlow cried painfully, the Winter Soldier grabbing him by the neck and effortesly lifted him up in the air.

"Gotov ubit' tebya...suka!" Bucky said menacingly, the meaning of the words - _ready to kill you...bitch_ \- tasting like a thousand knives to the throat as far as Brock was concerned, perhaps even literally considering how tight a grip the winter soldier had around his neck.

"Did you really think that a punk like you would be able to wield me? As you would say, I don't work like that anymore." Bucky said as he quickly grabbed and broke Rumlow's left arm in six different places, having spotted the arm suspicious moving towards a buttom on Rumlow's left thigh.

"Trying to take me to hell with you huh? Sorry, but you should know better than to underestimate me. That bomb is the first thing I noticed when I confronted you. You were never going to succeed in suicide bombing me." Bucky said, quickly snapping Rumlow's neck before he could master a response, Bucky ultimately deciding against taking him in alive given how dangerous the guy was, and not to mention that an interogation was unnecccessary as there already was a mountain of irrefutable evidence to prove the guy's guilt.

 _'Steve will be pissed that I didn't get any intel out of him before killing him, but I know better than anyone how dangerous Hydra is. Keeping this guy alive, even for a few moments could have disastrous consequences.'_ Bucky thought as he stripped Rumlow of the rest of his mechanical enhancers/armour.

 _'It's probably not his style, and he maybe hasn't needed it yet to deal with the criminals in his city, but I believe it would be to his benefit if Lucy and Sonny could modify and enhance this technology for him. There might come a time where he has no choice but to wear it.'_ Bucky thought as he uploaded the pictures and co-ordinates of Crossbone's tech to the Universe satellite feed before instructing Sonny to use the teleporter to transfer the items to the Heroes of the Universe HQ.

 _'That's a lot of property damage those two are causing back there...just what kind of battle are those two having?'_ Bucky thought with a quirked eyebrow. He'd have expected Lucy to be done dealing with...well, anyone by now given how powerful she was. That this battle was taking longer than his did with Rumlow and causing so much destruction gave him a new found respect for Shredder, clearly he had underestimated the threat level of the guy.

 _'I should probably go and help her. I doubt the Black Panther will be in a forgiving mood if he saw this kind of damage being caused by outsiders in his territory, and I certainly don't want to be around for that.'_ Bucky thought wearily, remembering all the bad stories he had heard about the Black Panther of Wakanda from his Hydra superiors, and of course, how much they wanted to keep their main asset, him, as far away from Wakanda as possible, having been extremely reluctant to assign him a mission anywhere near the African state before.

 **Thirty Minutes Earlier: Black Cat vs Shredder**

"My my, if it isn't the infamous Shredder of the Foot Clan. I must say, it's a bit of a surprise running into you all the way here. Aren't you supposed to be terrorizing New York City or something?" Lucy asked with a patronizing tone, catwalking in circles around her opponent as she sized him up, also internally sending a message to Sonny to record every single detail of the battle that is about to ensure.

"This is no place for a little girl. If you really need my attention that much, I could simply give you the location of my bedroom." Shredder distastefully retorted.

"That's actually an interesting proposition, it would certainly satisfy my curiosity, however..." Lucy trailed off with a mischievious glint in her eyes.

"However...?" Shredder asked curiously, concern settling into the pit of his stomach as he saw the Foot Clan, even with the advanced ninja skills and technology that they possessed, getting killed by the numbers by a bunch of robots.

"I can't simply ignore this wonderful opportunity that you have presented me with. I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it a rule in the Foot Clan that whoever defeats the leader in a one on one deathmatch becomes the new head of a the foot clan?" Lucy asked rhetorically.

"Hehehe! You think you can defeat me in single combat? I've never been so insulted before." Shredder said with an ugly snarl on his facial features, the amusement completely evaporating from his eyes as he glared at the catlike girl in front of him.

"So it's true then, he...or she who defeats you will become the new head of the Foot Clan." Lucy said excitedly.

"Yes...yes it is true, but that will never happen. There is a reason I haven't been challenged before. I have never lost in single combat before, and I'm not about to lose to a little gi..." Shredder trailed off as Lucy rushed in with a back kick aimed to the chest, Shredder putting up a cross guard to stop the attack, only to find himself enjoying some air time as he was lifted up into the air and sent flying across the street before crashing into another building that was under construction, in fact, rather than crashing into it, he actually crashed right through the walls and onto the other side of the street, such was the power in the kick that Lucy delivered.

 _'I...I can't believe it! This suit enhances all of my abilities exponentially! My speed, my strength, my endurance, my durability, and even my reaction time. How was she able to break both my forearms and crack a few of my ribs right through my guard?'_ Shredder thought as he got back up on one knee groggily, coughing up globs of blood from the internal damage that he suffered.

"You're still alive? Wow! That is super impressive! That suit of yours is totally amazing. I think I'll keep it when I'm done with you." Lucy said while she was in the air, landing a few metres away from Shredder in cat-like stance, crouched down almost in a cat-like sitting position, meanwhile busy analysing everything about Shredder with her humanich technology that was ingrained in her brain and senses, from the suit and all the way to how it worked and to his vitals and medical condition.

"Y-you...what are you? You're no o-ordinary human." Shredder asked as he finally managed to get back on his feet, the retractable claws on his left hand bracer popping out menacingly as he prepared to disect the cat bitch and find out for himself what the hell she was, only for said cat bitch's nails to retract, to be replaced by extremely long, sharp, metalic ones, so long that Shredder was sure that those nails, or rather, claws, were each the size of a ruler, and so thick and sharp that he was sure that even one of those would be able to bisect him.

 _'Okay, it's definitely time for plan B now."_ Shredder thought wearily, besides, that bluff was just a way to buy himself some time anyway, getting his forearms shattered with one kick, said kick which sent him flying through a building, was all that he had needed to happen for him to realise that he had no chance in hell of winning this fight as he currently was, the super long vibranium claws were just the icing on the cake.

"I don't know about you but I think my claws are better than yours. You already know that I'm much stronger than you, and you know that you were just barely able to get your guard up in time, and I wasn't even going anywhere near my full speed and strength. You don't stand a chance so why don't you just...huh...?" Lucy cocked her head to the side curiously, almost as if she were a kitten that just found its first ball of wool, wondering what Shredder was doing pressing a button hidden within his right hand bracer, or rather, a touch screen controller on his bracer.

Of course, she would find out very soon as a portal...yes, a portal appeared out of nowhere above Shredder and a bit to the right, the portal releasing what appeared to be a quite a large metalic samurai, and before she could get her bearings straight, the thing had opened up at the front and Shredder had jumpled inside of the damn thing as it completely enclosed him.

 _'I can't believe Shredder has a teleportation device at all, much less one of that calibre, and if his contingency plan was to teleport this samurai armor with that technology, then I'm guessing the armor must be quite impressive in and of itself.'_ Lucy thought with a combination of excitement and trepidition, excitement because of all the gadjets that she could use for Universe once she takes over the Foot Clan, and trepidition because of what this samurai armor might be capable of.

"You didn't really think that it would be that easy to take out the head of the Foot Clan did you?" Shredder asked with a metalic voice now that he was speaking from within the armor.

"I suppose I should have known better? But what are you exactly? The samurai version of Iron Man...oooooh...Iron Samurai...has quite a nice ring to it don't you think...?"

"Enough...!" Shredder exclaimed whilst he, with unreal speed, attacked Lucy, Black Cat just barely able to avoid getting minced by all of those spikes on the damn thing as she dodged in the last possible moment, the strength and speed of the samurai so great that the earth caved in on itself at the spot where he attacked, causing a huge crator to form on the surface as shockwaves went around causing cracks and dents along the road.

 _'Impressive power and speed. He was beyond human already with that body suit, with this cybernetic armor...his stats have just shot through the roof. This won't be easy at all.'_ Lucy thought as she pulled out the utility gun on her waist.

"I thought you wanted to take over the Foot Clan? Do you really think that they will accept you as their leader if you use a gun to win the battle? Only ninja and samurai arts are allowed in a battle of succession. How can you be leader if you don't even honor the clan's tradition? Not that the gun will make any difference of course..." Shredder trailed off tauntingly.

"You do realise that you're wearing a cyber-tech samurai armor right?" Lucy asked incredulously.

"The armor is just a weapon, an extension of my body. I'm still using ninja and samurai arts in battle."

"Yes but..."

"Silence...! You talk too much!" Shredder exclaimed as he resumed his assualt on the impossibly sexy catwoman, Lucy again able to dodge at the last possible moment, realising at the back of her mind that she would likely have to pull on all of her skills and abilities in order to win this one, the two of them moving at unreadable speeds to the naked eye as Lucy dodged strike after strike after strike from the devasting, crushing, and slicing blows - pillars, lamp posts, cars, walls, buildings, and everything all over the streets of the city getting detroyed by the cyber-tech samurai in his attempts to land a blow on the elusive, impossibly flexible, and fast Catwoman.

Meanwhile, unbeknowest to Shredder, Lucy was busy running an analytical diagnosis on the samurai armor, trying to find any and all weaknesses that she would be able to exploit. She'd already discovered two weak points in the armor, which was the joints in the hip area and the shoulder area, and she also figured out that while the alloy of the armor was incredibly tough, that her vibranium claws could penetrate and cut through it with a couple of well timed strikes. However, she hadn't found the right opening yet because Shredder's attack was relentless, not giving her any clear openings to launch her counter attack.

 _'Seems like I'll have to establish some distance and use_ _ **that**_ _in order to get inside his guard from a distance. The risk of a counter attack is higher, but I have no choice.'_ Lucy decided as she quickly dropped a smoke bomb and shifted out of the way while Shredder was momentarily distracted.

"A smoke bomb? How fitting for this occassion. It's almost as if you came here knowing that you would be fighting against a ninja."

"I came here for a tactical stealth mission, ninja aren't the only ones who use smoke screens you know...or ninja samurais or whatever it is that you are." Lucy said when she was sure that she was out of Shredder's immediate range, crouching down with her feet next to each other and her knees facing forward - her front claws digging into the ground as another set of vibranium claws ejected from her hind feet and dug into the ground as well. However, that was not even the most amazing thing that happened, because what had even Shredder astounded was how much her legs expanded, her thighs growing to almost four times their original size, almost as if the muscles in there were about to explode.

"A frontal assualt, from that distance? You're either underestimating me or you're a lot stupider than I thou..." Shredder trailed of, never getting the chance to finish that sentence as Lucy, in the blink of an eye, moved in and under his guard and sliced the arms off from the weak points that she had discovered earlier, and then went on to, with the force of her powerful legs, slice through the rest of the cyber-tech samurai, slicing Shredder in half in the process.

"I win. I will be the leader of the Foot Clan now." Lucy said as she removed removed the upper half of the half dead Shredder's body from the armor.

"You fought well. Had I not had this ability in reserve, I could not have won. It's not an ability I can maintain for extended lengths of battle. If you had been able to counter it, I don't know what would have happened." Lucy said as she craddled Shredder's head tenderly.

"W..what are you planning t...to do with t-the f...foot clan?" Shredder managed to breathe out.

"Do not worry about the clan. I will make them even greater than they are already. We will no longer be a clan of thugs however, the Foot Clan will be the shadow of the Universe program, a society dedicated to world peace, to technological, medical, and scientific advancement, and to the protection of the innocent. From now on we are no longer the Foot Clan, we are Shade, the foundation of the Heroes of The Universe Society. You may not understand what this means now, but rest assured, what I do with Universe will not make you turn in your grave. Your clan will be a part of something great...the greatest thing to come out of this planet." Lucy said with a sincere and compassionate tone.

"T...thank you...catgirl..." Were the legendary Shredder's last words as he took his last breathe.

"It's catwoman you...stupid ninja-samurai hybrid thingy!" Lucy whined petulantly, her words however falling on deaf ears, or rather, dead ears as Shredder moved on to the afterlife.

"Lucy! I came here to...help...you..." Bucky trailed off as he arrived to the scene, reminding himself how fortunate he was to be on the same side as his god daughter, because the last thing he wanted was to have to go to battle against her. Going to battle with her as opposed to against her was so much better.

"You took your time for someone who wanted to help, but then again, I'm glad you did. It would have ruined everything for us if you had interfered." Lucy said as she got up to face her god father.

"What do you mean by that?" Bucky asked defensively.

"The Foot Clan have a tradition that any man, or in this case, woman, who defeats the head of the clan in single deathmatch combat will become the new head of the clan." Lucy explained, Bucky's eyes widening in sudden realisation, and of course, surprise and confusion too.

"Why would you want to be the leader of the foot clan?" Bucky asked incredulously.

"Because silly, the foot clan have financial, technological, scientific, and human resources that will be of use to us. The body cannot move without the head, and it is the head that determines the direction that the rest of the body will take. The foot clan are under my orders now, and from now on, the drug trafficing, human trafficking, and the illegal mercenary activities will end with immediate effect as per my orders. The foot clan will be reformed in our image. They will serve a much more noble purpose." Lucy explained.

"That sounds like an incredible plan, but so many things could go wrong. Are you absolutely sure about this, and more importantly, will Steve approve of this idea?"

"Hmmm...I'm not actually sure he would approve if we told him now, but a couple of days later, when we've sorted everything out, well, I don't think he'll have a problem at all. Sometimes it is better to see the end product as opposed to the work in progress you know, like how totally alien a foetus looks and yet to the contrary, how cute and adorable an infant looks." Lucy retorted.

"I see where you're coming from. Well, you're his daughter, so you know him best, and quite honestly, I think that you're on to something. Now please, let's get the hell out of here before the Black Panther shows up."

"I totally agree with you on that Uncle." Lucy replied wearily.

 **0000000000**

 _"You know you sure are quite a ladies man for someone who once went 50 whole years without getting so much as a kiss from a girl."_ Natasha spoke through the communicator, Steve listening in as he sat and waited for his lunch date to arrive, dressed up all formal with a tuxedo on and even a pair of glasses, though having not told anyone that said pair of glasses were a technological marvel from Universe Corporations, the glasses containing a number of tricks up their sleeves, such as night vision, infrared vision, x-ray vision, facial recognition, and direct access to the Universe data base.

"I only agreed to have a communicator so that the rest of you can listen in, not so that you can conversate with me. We can do that some other time." Steve reprimanded as he scanned the area around.

Already he had spotted some very suspiscious people in the establishment thanks to his modified glasses, those being Carol Danvers and Kara Danvers, and there was also Hank Shaw, who Steve knew to be the Martian Hunter J'onn J'onzz. They thought they could hide their identities from him, but had no idea the kind of technology he had access to. Steve's glasses showed him a lot of things, like for instance the heat vision in his glasses showed him that Kara Danvers and Hank Hanshaw's body temperatures were much higher than that of normal human beings, and his x-ray vision along with a diagnostic function on his glasses showed that their heart rate and bone density were also vastly different from normal human beings. So he knew now almost without a shadow of doubt that Kara Danvers was supergirl.

 _"I guess it's true then, men really don't know how to multi task, not even the great Captain America is exempted from that disability it seems."_ Natasha retorted, Steve however too deep in his own thoughts to pay mind to Natasha's taunting remarks.

 _'This can't possibly be a coincidence. They are here for a reason, the only question is whether I am that reason or Wonder Woman is that reason...or both.'_ Steve thought wearily, completely ignoring Natasha's retort as he tried to put the pieces together.

Deep down, Steve knew that now was the time to warn the others about what he had discovered, however, at the same time, he knew that this could be his one and only chance to enjoy a peaceful dinner with the one and only Wonder Woman, his heroine and role model, and as selfish as it was, there was no way he was going to miss this opportunity. He had so many questions to ask her, and generally just enjoying a nice conversation with her was well worth it. She was the large chunk of the reason he became who and what he was now, he just couldn't pass this up. Besides, her body language and mood would tell him whether she had anything to do with the DEO's presence in the establishment or not.

Steve figured that the DEO might have somehow been alerted to Diana's presence in the City, or that she had made some kind of mistake that caused her to be discovered by them, and that they were tracking and monitoring her as a result. However, he was also open to the posibility that she was in league with them and had asked them to back her up, especially given how suspicious and distrusting she was of him when he contacted her.

 _'But then again, if she couldn't trust me, then why would she trust the DEO? It doesn't make sense, at least not with the information I currently have.'_ Rogers thought with confusion, completely wiping that out of his mind for the meantime as he saw the glorious and heavenly sight that was Diana Prince, unable to believe how gorgious she looked as she walked into the establishment, looking around until she spotted him at the other end of the restuarant.

"Oh my god...!" Steve thought with wide eyes and an equally wide jaw, his mouth agape in awe and wonder as he watched the dark haired beauty strolling towards him, stuck in a trance even when she was standing right in front of him, the others listening on the other side asking all sorts of questions on the communicator, none of which were payed any mind to, much less met with any response whatsoever.

"I was under the impression that it was customary for earthling men to pull out a woman's chair for her, or does the great Captain America not have any manners whatsoever?" Diana asked rhetorically, maintaining an ever so stoic and cold demeanor and tone as she spoke down to the cap, Steve quickly spurting a barrage of apologies as he quickly got up on his ass and pulled the chair for her, making sure she was completely comfortable before returning to his own seat.

"I'm so sorry about that, I was just..."

"Don't bother. I didn't really mean what I said. Quite frankly, I've never understood this particular custom, I mean, what is supposed to be the meaning behind it? Are earth men trying to suggest that a woman is too weak and fragile to open her own doors and pull up her own chairs?" Diana asked with a not so well hidden disgust in her tone.

"To be fair, Kings, Queens, Princes, and Princesses all have their doors and chairs held for them, and they don't even drive their own cars, as they get driven to wherever it is that they want to go. So if a man is doing all of that for a woman, it only speaks of how highly he thinks of her...that he would put her on a pedestal like that." Steve replied with a tone and expression so ernest and sincere that Diana was left with no illusions about the truth in Steve's words, or his own unshakeable belief in those words.

"W-wow...I...I never thought of it like that..." Diana sputtered, a warm and fuzzy feeling threatening to explode from her chest area, that was of course before she completely and ruthlessly snuffed it out, after all, she is the future queen of Themyscira, not some delusional high school girl that falls for the sweet words of the first handsome guy who says something nice to her.

"I've never thought of it any other way." Steve replied with conviction in his tone and facial expression.

"You seem like a very passionate person, the kind of guy who wears his heart on his sleeve. I guess not everything one hears about you is media propaganda. But I'm not here for small talk, nor am I here to make friends. You tracked me down, which is an impressive feat on it's own, and then you asked to have a sit down with me. I assume there's something that you want from me, so out with it, before I lose my patience." Diana demanded authoratively.

"Ah yes, well, there are two reasons for my asking you to meet with me, the first one, and most important reason, is that I wanted to get to know you, and also to get you to sign my Wonder Woman shirt that I made." Steve said as he pulled Red T-shirt from under the table, the shirt having a large image of serious and scarry Wonder Woman's face at the back, and one of her full body, in full combat gear at the front of it.

"I also brought a diary, so maybe if you could write something for me in there, I'd really appreciate it." Steve said as he placed the small pocket diary on top of the t-shirt, scratching the back of his head nervously as he waited with baited breathe for Diana's response.

"Is...this some kind of joke? Are you mocking me?" Diana asked furiously, her stare down alone almost enough to literally freeze Steve in place.

"Not at all, I sw...ack!" Steve grunted as, out of nowhere, literally out of nowhere, a gold, glowing whip appeared on Diana's right hand as she, in an instant, snapped it around Steve's neck, pulling him down head first into the table.

"How dare you make me fun of me, you scum...!" Diana whispered furiously, the whip seemingly responding to her mood as it tightened even more around his neck, Kara, Alex, and even J'onn J'onzz all wondering what the hell was going on between those two.

"I..I'm not m-making fun of you! I promise! You're my heroine, my role model. The things you did when you were enlisted in the US Army..."

"I never enlisted, I only helped out when I wanted to." Diana corrected immediately.

"Yes...well, anyway, I'm not l-lying, I really came here to get to know my heroine and role model, and to get your autograph." Steve managed to squeeze out through the chokehold.

 _'Impossible! No one has ever managed to successfully lie while under the influence of my lasso...could he really be telling the truth? I...I'm his role model?'_ Diana thought with a confused frown, and she was right too, no one had managed to successfully lie to her while under the influence of the lasso of truth, however, what she didn't know was that Steve was protected from all forms of mental manipulation thanks to his girlfriend, Wanda Maximoff, a fail safe she had installed into Steve to protect his mind from other forms of psyionic power. As a result, what she believed to be Steve's truth might not neccessarily be the case, because Steve could potentially lie to her even when she had him in her lasso, however, fortunately for her, Steve really was telling her the truth.

"I'm sorry about my...apparent savagery, but I had to make sure that you were telling the truth. You have to look at it from my perspective, to me, what you said didn't make any sense whatsoever." Diana apologised, having removed the lasso from Steve's throat, and just as it came, the lasso vanishing into thin air.

"Not at all, I totally understand. Besides, I got not only confirmation that it really exists, but also got a first hand experience of the lasso of truth. I should be thanking you really." Steve replied with a playful smirk.

"Why does it seem like I can do no wrong with you?" Diana retorted.

"Well, only time can provide the answer to that question, but I believe in you, so yes, I don't think you can do any wrong in my eyes." Steve retorted, causing that feeling to surge again in Diana's heart, this time unable to supress it as a small blush appeared on her facial features.

"Yes, well, I might be speaking too soon, but I'm starting to believe in you too, Steve Rogers." Diana said with the first genuine smile that she had produced in quite a long time, the princess of Themyscira picking up the pen and signing the T-shirt before also writting something inside Steve's pocket diary.

 _"Damn Cap, you're really quite good at this for someone who was under the ice for half a century. You really need to teach me some of that old school game of yours some time."_ Steve heard Sam speaking into the communicator, promising himself to give Sam hell in training next time for sabotaging him like that, as if it wasn't bad enough that Wonder Woman possibly had super hearing and therefore probably heard that, there was also the fact that Sam no doubt said that within hearing range of his beloved but terrifying girlfriend.

"Don't read this until you get home okay?" Diana said when she finally finished writting and handed the diary back and the t-shirt back to her date.

"I promise I won't, and thank you so much!" Steve replied with barely contained excitement.

 _'He's like a little kid at the candy store...except...he isn't really a child, nor is this a candy store."_ Diana thought darkly, having started off with a lighter feeling to her thoughts.

"So...now that we got that little bit of business out of the way, why don't you tell me who the hell that was on the other side of that hidden communicator you got on your left ear?" Diana asked with a grave undertone.

"I might tell you, if for instance you could tell me why you are communicating with the DEO on that communicator on your right ear?" Steve retorted, now no longer the handsome, child-like Steve Rogers that Diana met and conversated with when she arrived, but the...still handsome, but dangerous and headstrong Captain America that she knew about.

To say the others listening in on both sides were surprised would amount to a ridiculous understatement. Obviously, they were both surprised to have been made out that easily, but more surprising for the Avengers was Diana's involvement with the DEO (even though some of them didn't even know what that was). It caused a lot of tension between the two sides, and both sides felt like the whole situation could turn into a massive combustion of violence at any second now.

"I don't know what you're talk..."

"Spare me the lies, please. The Wonder Woman I have looked up to all my life is supposed to be a great and honorable warrior, please do not tarnish my image of her." Steve cut in like a knife through butter, so much so that Diana was rendered speechless for almost a whole minute.

"Okay, I'll tell you the truth. I made contact with the DEO after you called me and asked them if they would let me join their division. I told them that I wanted to work side by side with Supergirl, to show the world that extra terrestrials aren't all that bad, and that women can be just as strong and effective as man are...if not moreso. That is of course, truly why and how I felt, though not the only reason..."

"You were planning to do that anyway, but not immediately. I venture to guess, but I imagine you were planning to slowly reveal yourself whilst also earning their trust, and giving them a chance to earn your trust in turn. However, my discovery and subsequent contact of you spooked you out and you decided to speed things up, so that you can get protection from me. Did I get anything wrong?" Steve asked rhetorically.

"As a matter of fact you did. I did not speed up my plans because I wanted to get protection from you. No offense but I could take you out any time and any day that I please. I sped up my plans to get protection from the Avengers. Without the Hulk and Thor, I could still probably take you all out even if you came at me together, but it would be an unneccesary risk to take." Diana explained with a weird and unfathomable combination of arrogance and humilitty.

 _'Without Hulk and Thor? So she doesn't know that Bruce Banner has returned? Or is she simply stating that they are the only real threats to her?'_ Steve thought curiously, but ultimately deciding that that was not important for the time being.

"So tell me then, why would you think that you need protection from the Avengers? What if it was only me who wanted to meet with you? And even if you thought it was the whole team, why would you think that you need protection from us?"

"Again, no offense, but I knew that there was no way that you found me on your own. You're a super soldier, not a super hero, and you're no genius. You may be the designated leader of the Avengers, but you're nothing but a figurehead. Nick Fury, Natasha Romanov, Tony Stark, those are the true master minds of this Avengers program. I knew that if I was talking to you then it meant that either Fury, Iron Man, or Black Widow found me. As for why I thought I needed protection from you lot? Well, it's because chaos and destruction follows the Avengers everywhere. Everything that you lot of touched has been followed by death and destruction. The fall of shield at the Triskelion, Thor's brother invading the planet, Tony Stark and Bruce Banner's creation of Ultron and the destruction in Sokovia. I repeat, eveything that the Avengers has touched has lead to death and destruction." Diana ranted with passion and conviction.

"I see...well...If that's really how you feel then I guess in that case there is no point in me telling you the other reason that I came here to see you."

"Which is?" Diana asked with a little bit of curiosity.

"I was sent here to recruit you for the Avengers. Our new leader, Nick Fury wanted us to recruit a replacement member for Thor, and we thought that you fit the profile more than any other person out there. However, given everything that you've said..."

"I have no interest in joining the Avengers. I'm sorry Steve, you're a great guy, really, I'm glad that I got to meet you, to know the man behind the hero. You're a nice, handsome, and kind man. However, I'm working with Supergirl and the DEO right now, and I have no intention of changing my plans. We can still be friends and hang out from time to time if you want, but that's as far as it goes." Diana cut in before Steve could finish his sentence, confirming what he already concluded anyway.

"I see..." Steve trailed off with a disappointed tone and facial expression, though not disappointed because she rejected the Avengers, but because of how little she thought of his capabilities, after all, she pretty much said that she would swat him like a fly if they ever fought each other, and claimed that he wasn't smart enough or resourceful enough to lead the Avengers or to find her for that matter. It really hurt to hear something like that from someone he thought so highly of. He hadn't expected her to sing praises of him of course, but he certainly didn't expect this.

 _"It's time to pull out Steve! You're not going to convince her to come willingly at this point, and any thoughts of using force to recruit either her or Supergirl have gone straight out of the window if both she and Supergirl are working for the DEO. Pull out soldier, we're heading home."_ Nick Fury said through the communicator.

 _"Damn Cap, you can't seem to catch a break can you. Failing a mission as badly as that and also getting rejected by the woman of your dreams at the same time? It's gotta suck to be you right now."_ Tony spoke with a little too much joy in his tone, Rogers doing his best to not let it get under his skin, as he was sure that that is exactly what Tony wanted, who was having a little more success getting under his skin today for the mere fact that both Diana and Wanda could hear the words that he was saying. Thankfully neither of the girls responded to his words, although Steve was sure that he was in for another mind invasion/scan from Wanda as soon as they got back to their hotel room.

 _"Don't worry about what she said my love, she doesn't know how strong you've become over the last two years."_ Wanda said reassuringly, catching Steve a little by surprise at the warmth in her tone, but then again, she'd already read his mind regarding his feelings for Diana, and therefore knew that his obsession with Diana was not romantic in nature, so really, there wasn't any reason for there not to be any warmth in her tone. She was also right, Diana had no idea how much stronger he was compared to two years ago, nor did she know how exponentially his skill and knowledge had improved since then thanks to having the memories and experiences of the winter soldiers downloaded into his brain by Wanda.

"Who is that? Is that Wanda Maximoff? Are you two...I see, a lot must have happened in that two year holiday that the two of you took..." Diana said with a strange tone and expression, unable to understand why she was feeling jealous all of a sudden.

"Yes, a lot did. Wanda...she's amazing, she's the love of my life. I honestly don't know what I'd do without her. You're a lot like her in someways, but...there's no one like her..." Steve trailed off with a lovestruck expression, Diana's eyes narrowing slightly at Steve Rogers as irritation started to settle in.

"Where did the two of you go anyway? The whole of America went on a major witch hunt when the two of you disappeared. Everyone was looking for you two. The news have not stopped talking about the two of you since your return, people are worried about your true motives and your secrecy about your whereabouts. Some even believe you weren't even on earth for the past two years." Diana asked curiously, changing the topic to something a little less...unsettling, though only she would think that this was less unsettling than Steve having a girlfriend, or rather, than her feelings of jealousy and possessiveness over a guy she barely knew, no matter how much she felt like she already knew him quite well.

"I was definitely on planet earth, though I'm sorry to say but that's all I'm willing to say about that time." Steve replied.

"You know I could easily just force the information out of you right?"

"You presume that I would let you catch me with your lasso again." Steve retorted.

"Are you insunuating that you **let** me catch you the last time?" Diana asked tensely, her eyes narrowing dangerously at the blonde haired, blue eyed super soldier.

"I needed to earn your trust somehow." Steve replied with a casual shrug of the soldiers, a playful smirk morphing into his face as he spoke.

"Is that a challenge, Steve Rogers?" Diana asked defensively.

"No...well, maybe, but not right now. I think maybe we should call it a night, I'm sure Alex Danvers, J'onn J'onzz, and Kara Danvers Aka Kara Zor El Supergirl would like to get some reprieve, and besides, I've been ordered to report back the results of this...meeting." Steve said with a little bit of unsureness regarding what to call this little get together of theirs.

"So you noticed...?" Diana asked, refering to the fact that Kara Danvers and Supergirl were one and the same person.

"Not to sound arrogant or anything, but I am Captain America." Steve retorted to the question.

"Yes, yes you are indeed..." Diana replied with a contemplative expression.

 **Later that evening: Universe Headquarters**

"Why won't you just tell us what happened in Wakanda?" Steve asked impatiently, resisting the temptation to have Wanda simply get the information from Bucky's mind using her powers.

It had been a very long day for him. As if travelling all the way to National City for a meeting with the dangerous and volatile Wonder Woman was not bad enough, he'd then been confronted by The Martian Manhunter, Supergirl, Alex Danvers in her mechanical combat suit, the new vigilante called Guardian, and a new guy who goes by the alias of 'Suberboy', and calls himself Mon El of Daxam, a sister planet to Krypton.

Steve had no information about what powers a Daxam person had on planet earth, but from what he could tell through his glasses, the guy had the same kind of super strength and durability as Supergirl, possibly the same speed and reflexes as well. Given that the guy was using some kind of gyroscoping technology on his hands and feet, Steve was able to conclude that a Daxamite did not obtain the power of flight on planet earth, unlike the Krytonians. Steve also theorised that the guy didn't have the heat vision that Kryptonians have since the guy was wearing some kind of eye tech (similar to Cyclops from Xmen) of which x-ray visions from Steve's utility glasses revealed to have a lot of energy stored inside, which meant that the guy was using that eye tech to compensate for his lack of heat vision. It was also possible that the eye tech had x-ray and telescopic vision as well, unless the Daxamite inherently had those abilities much like the kryptonians.

Nevertheless, Steve had to admit that the kid's costume was quite cool, wearing black bottoms with a red, form fitting top similar to Superman's, except red in colour with his 'S' being blue in colour, the opposite of Superman and Supergirls. He however didn't have a cape, and his pants were no where near as tight as Superman's, thank god, the gyroscopic foot and hand tech also made his visage appear even cooler than it already did.

Nevertheless, the JSNC (Justice Society of National City) made it clear that they were the protectors of National City, and they were not taking any nonsense, even from the Avengers. Even if the Avengers thought that they could defeat them, the price of victory would certainly come at too big a price. Heck, the price would be too big even if it was just Wonder Woman and Supergirl that they had to deal with, add the Martian Manhunter, this Superboy kid, Guardian, and Alex Danvers and you had quite a formidable force to contend with there. There was also the fact that they had Superman in their back pocket, whom they could call on for help at any moment. Really, all this wasn't worth it just to get an alien in their ranks, besides, why would people who are fighting for the same vision need to fight against each other when there were so many bad guys already to contend with. It just didn't make any sense whatsoever to Rogers, and thankfully Nick Fury had come to his senses and called the mission off, although he and the others were clearly not happy about the lack of control they had over the situation in National City, a petty sentiment that Steve cared very little for.

"I told you what happened. Crossbones was working with Shredder, but both of them are dead now and we have secured the bio weapon." Bucky replied.

"You're not telling me everything..."

"Because Lucy wants to tell you herself, she has the big presentation set up for you. She'll be here soon, you won't have to wait that l...long..." Bucky trailed off as a portal opened in front of the five of them, said five being Sam, Wanda, Steve, Bucky, and Sonny, Lucy becoming the sixth person in the room as she stepped out of the portal.

"Lucy! Where have you been? Are you okay?" Wanda asked with concern.

"I'm okay mom...actually, I'm better than okay." Lucy replied with a spring in her step, walking right passed everyone as she headed towards the H.O.U. (Heros of the Universe) boardroom, the others following her inside the place as they all eagerly awaited to hear what she had to say.

"Okay spill it out Catty. Enough with the suspense, who the hell are those people on the screen." Sam demanded impatiently.

"The big, strong black guy on the top left, we call him Blade, and the beautiful lady on the top right, well, her name is Gazelle (Kingsmen: Secret Service movie). The guy on the bottom left is codenamed "Jumper" and the kid on the bottom right is codenamed Lancelot, but we also call him Eggsy (Kingsmen: Secret Service Movie)." Lucy started.

"Eggsy? What kind of name is that?" Bucky asked incredulously, also silently wondering what the hell this had to do with her taking over the foot clan, though he had to admit that this was just as interesting as her being the head of the notorious foot clan.

"I dunno. He said we could call him that so we do...sometimes." Lucy shrugged dismissively.

"The girl, are those metal prosthetics on her legs?" Steve asked curiously.

"And is that a metal casing around lower arms and hands?" Sam added.

"This girl was a straight A student who was a technological engineering major. She was also a contortionist and gymnast at school. She was also very fast on the track, a model student honestly. However, she went out with her friends one night and was caught in a car accident and lost her lower legs and her arms from the elbow downwards. I met her at a seminar I was doing at her school, she approached me and asked me questions about technological engineering that were too advanced even for a tertiary student." Lucy explained, taking a short break to give the others a chance to digest the information before carrying on where she left off.

"So I got curious and later unravelled everything I could find about her past, and had her followed for three months straight. I was basically the ultimate stalker when it came to her. When I was satisfied that I had gathered enough information about her, I decided to recruit her, I made her new arms made of the vibranium that we got from our mine in Pluto, and made her those prosthetics to hold on to while I design her legs for her. The arms were experimental of course, and the original version was not made of vibranium, naturally, but there was a defect in the design, a defect that proved to be of significant usefulness to us."

"What do you mean by that?" Bucky asked the question that was on everyone's mind.

"In order for her to be able to move the arms, the arms would have to be connected to her nervous system so that her neural synapses would travel through her body to the arms, and back through her body and back to her brain. However, the arms required a lot more electricity than that, so we had to have it that the arms generate the implulses to the brain and vice versa. Long story short, we accidentally increased the electrical signals across her nervous system significantly, granting her an incredible amount of speed, reaction time, and reflexes. We fixed the defect of course, you know, for future patients, but we left her condition the way it was and trained her in martial and weapons arts combat. I made her new legs similar to her arms, but she rejected them, she'd grown attached to her prosthetics, and honestly, they work very well for her fighting style. She's modified the prosthetics to project long blades that she uses to slice up her victims. You should see her in action, she'll really something else." Lucy said with a mischievious smirk plastered on her facial features.

"So which one is it exactly? She a technological engineer at Universe Corporations? An Assassin? A bodyguard? Security Detail? Your Assistant?What?" Sam asked impatiently.

"All of the above." Lucy retorted.

"So she can perceive and react to threats instantaneously, has expansive martial and weapons arts combat training, was an incredibly agile, flexible, and fast athlete even before her enhancements and training? Is she some kind of super soldier?" Bucky asked rhetorically.

"Well, I guess she is isn't she. You don't have to worry though, she doesn't know about us yet, she only knows that I'm her boss and she's my assistant and bodyguard, she's also head of security at Universe Corporations, basically an all in one employee and friend. She's not going to be joining the Hero Association, but she will be helping to further our goals on the Universe Corporations side of things." Lucy explained.

"Damn. I'd hate to see what happens to the guy that pisses off the two of you." Sam said with an internal wince.

"Okay, tell us about this Blade character now." Steve demanded authoratively.

"Blade. This guy is the cream of the crop. He's only 28 years old and yet he'd done it all dad. Special Forces, Black Ops, CIA, everything. He was so good he got to a point that they didn't even formulate teams for missions anymore, they would just send him in all alone, and he'd get the job done in record time, always in record time. Military Combat and Espionage was like a super power to him. However, he was too good for his own good, and the US Government got fidgety about the information that he had, they began to see him as a liability and then they betrayed him. They tried to take him out because they thought that he knew too much. They sent their best after him and almost succeeded in killing him. For all intents and purposes, he should be dead, or rather...is dead." Lucy said dramatically.

"Huuuuh?" Was Sam's intellectual response.

"See Sam, the thing is, our meeting was written in the stars..."

"You mean like...fate?"

"Exactly...Sam, exactly. I was doing my usual spot checks at all of our hospitals, and then, in our Manhattan hospital, guess who showed up, half dead, full of blood, both his own and that of two dozen other poor souls?"

"I guessing that would be Blade." Sam deadpanned.

"Aha! I was quickly able to realise, at first glance, that this wasn't an ordinary man, nor was this an ordinary violent incident. So I quickly asked him a few questions, told him I'd let him die if he didn't tell me exactly what was going on. He was barely able to talk, but he said enough for me to know that he was an important soldier who was betrayed by his own country. Long story short, I was able to stabilise him, but after I did that, I had no choice but to let him die and then inject him with our experimental stasis solution."

"Wait what? You invented a drug that puts people in stasis?"

"Yes Sam but that's not the point. The point is, the people who were after him showed up just as I predicted, and I showed them the corpse and the death certificate. Afterwards, I took him back to my personal lab and riscuscitated him. However, there were some complications..."

"What kind of complications?" Steve asked hastily, clearly enthralled by the tale of his daughter's scientific adventures.

"Brain damage. His brain had lost the ability to send messages to most of his vital organs, including his heart. For all intents and purposes, he was a vegetable on life support. So in my infinite wisdom, I invented a device, a chip that I connected to his brain and nervous system to fix the problem..."

"Let me guess, there were side effects?" Sam interupted.

"Exactly...Sam. See, the chip was supposed to activate and control the unconscious functions of his brain, in other words, to help his brain do the things that humans have no control over, the things humans do unconsciously, such as the cardio vascular and respiratory functions amongst many other things. The chip of course did serve its purpose as intended, but also enabled him to consciously control these functions if he so pleased." Lucy trailed off dramatically.

"So you mean to tell me that this man can control his heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, and even his adrenaline levels?" Wanda asked with astonishement.

"All those amongst other things. Blade can control the creation and secretion of any hormone in his body, including the human growth hormone and lactic acid secretion. He can even control his digestion system in order to maximise digestion and assimilation of nutrients. Now you can imagine with him controlling adrenaline secretion alone how strong he can become in battle, but even better is what this does for him in terms of training and nutrition. Just think about how strong his bones are now with how much calcium he is able to digest and assimilate? Imagine how strong his muscles are with his ability to control oxygenisation, glycolysis, and lactic acid build up during training? Imagine how big, strong, and flexible his muscles get and how quickly he recovers with him able to control protein synthesis? Imagine all the possibilities?" Lucy explained with elation.

"Wow! This guy must be really strong. He's like a super soldier, both this Gazelle and Blade, they're basically enhanced people." Steve said with an awed expression.

"Yeah tell me about it man. And these other two guys? What do they do?" Sam asked in his usual demanding way.

"The young man on the bottom left of the screen is David Rice (Main character of the movie "Jumper"), codenamed Jumper. Now if you thought the abilities of the other two were amazing then you haven't seen anything yet."

"Hey I know this guy. I was the one that gave him to you. I found him in one of the Hydra bases that I took out. They were doing all sorts of nasty experiments on him, he was practically dead when I gave him to you, suffering from some sort of virus Hydra was creating for their biological warfare." Wanda said with sudden realisation, unable to believe that her daughter had actually found a cure for the virus that even she, with all the knowledge she downloaded from the Hydra scientists, couldn't cure herself.

"Yes this is the same exact guy mom. I tried to cure him like you said I should, but no matter what, I couldn't synthesise a drug that would remove the virus without killing him. So I asked him if I could use an experimental procedure on him and he agreed to it, or I think he did, he was kinda out of it." Lucy said with a casual shrug, everybody figuratively face faulting at Lucy's casual dismisal of the fact that she wasn't even sure that she had received consent from the guy.

"What procedure was it that you were working on? Steve inquired.

"Another method to create a super soldier, well, more like, a way to forcefully evolve the human being." Lucy said cryptically.

"Explain." Steve commanded.

"The human dna strand, as you all should know, contains 23 pairs of chromosones. But what if you added a 24th pair? What would happen then? How would the human being evolve? Would it turn into something grotesque, or would it turn into something beautiful? Well, let me answer that question for you, it turned into something magical. Not only was David cured of the virus, but he also gained a new ability, that being the ability to instantaneously travel through small dimensional pockets of his own creation. In other words, to instantaneously teleport from one point to another, anywhere in the world." Lucy explained, again taking a short pause to allow the others to digest the information.

"That's not all that happened of course, his body also naturally functions at the peak of human capabilities, in terms of speed, strength, agility, reflexes, etc etc, and his sense of time and space is beyond human capability, an adaptation obviously related to his ability to jump through portals, allowing him to immediately adjust himself to his surroundings in the new location. Naturally, we have trained and experimented with these abilities vigorously, to make him an apt bodyguard and assassin if the need arises. He, like Blade and Gazelle, are loyal to me, to Universe Corporations, and to our cause." Lucy declared confidently.

"Okay, you're not one to make any reckless decisions, so if you say that they can be trusted, then I will also put my faith in them. I'm proud of you, my daughter, and I have faith in you." Steve said as he walked over to his daughter and gave her a tight and warm hug.

"Thanks dad!" Lucy replied with an equally warm smile, wrapping her arms tightly around Steve, and nuzzling her head against the crook of his neck, unable to help but to feel that she no doubt had the best dad in the world, a dad who loved her, trusted her, respected her, and always complemented and congratulated her on her achievements. Never putting her down but always there to guide her and impart his wisdom when she strayed.

"I love you dad, more than you can even imagine." Lucy said with honesty and sincerity.

"I love you too."

"Man why yawl gotta get all mushy all of a sudden...playin with a brother's emotions like that!" Sam mumbled.

"You're such a cry baby..."

"What you say to me?" Sam exploded at Bucky.

"Nevermind..." Bucky said with a shrug of the shoulders, acutely aware that Sam will never admit to the truth that was there in front of everyone's eyes.

"Yeah I thought so." Sam retorted, Bucky unable to resist the temptation to roll his eyes at the whole thing.

"So, anyway, why don't you tell us about this last guy, what's the deal with him?" Steve asked eventually, having finally, and reluctantly, relieved Lucy of his warm embrace.

"Well, this guy is, as a said earlier, is code named Lancelot, but we call him Eggsy. His mother was an illegal immigrant from England, who came to America via human trafficking. She was served as an unwilling prostitute for a number of years before she fell pregant with Eggsy. Even after that however, he bosses forced her to continue to work for them. It was a very abusive and cruel situation. Eggsy had to grow up with this reality, of neither him nor his mother knowing who his father was, knowing that his mother was a prostitute against her will. It was...not how a boy should know his mother." Lucy said with a sad tone and expression.

"Despite everything, Eggsy is pure of heart, a good kid who just wanted to look out for his mother. He is blessed with incredible athleticism and raw talent, and even had a bit of military training. However, he had to pull out due to concerns over his mother's wellbeing without him being there at home to protect here. As one would no doubt expect, eventually, he exploded and attacked his mom's pimp and his sleezy body guards. It didn't end well for him. They gave him a massive beating, so bad that he lost his ability to hear, and they removed his eyes too. See no evil and hear no evil they said." Lucy trailed off, unable to help how emotional she felt about the situation as she recalled the time that he told her his story on his hospital bed.

"When I heard his story, I knew that I had to do something about it. So I designed him synthetic eyes and artificial eardrums. When he fully recovered, I offered to train him in martial arts and weapons arts, so that he can protect his mother and little sister from those goons, and take them out if he wanted to. That's when we made the discovery..."

"What discovery?" Wanda asked anxiously.

"Well, as you know, the organ responsible for spatial awareness and balance is located between the ears, and of course, replacing said organ, along with his eyes and ear drums with artificial ones would require that I find a way to link them to his nervous system and brain. In doing so, I inadvertently improved all of his senses and spatial awareness significantly. To put it bluntly, his five senses, and his spatial awareness alone, make it that Eggsy can even dodge bullets from point blank range. I also since have modified his artificial eyes to give him a sort of terminator experience, you know, like thermal vision, x-ray vision, telescopic vision, facial recognition, and access to his own data base, which is basically a copy of the one we have right here. He also gained a new ability, as he seems to have gained access to a higher percentage of control over his brain, that being the ability of telekinesis, albeit to a very limited but useful extent." Lucy explained.

"What do you mean by that last part?" Steve asked with unrestrained curiosity.

"He can't like lift a car and dump it on your head or anything like that, he can bend spoons and move very small objects, but he can't generate that much speed on the objects that he moves around."

"Doesn't that make it a useless ability in battle then?" Sam asked incredulously.

"Not at all. Just because he can't generate the momentum, doesn't been that he can't manipulate an object that already has it's own incredible momentum." Lucy said with a knowing smirk, Steve's eyes widening in sudden realisation.

"You don't mean like...bending bullets do you?" Steve asked with astonishment.

"That is exactly what I mean. Lancelot 'Eggsy' has the ability to shoot bullets around corners, and even around say...your shield. He can dodge them and he can bend em. His athleticism and skill in combat is also sublime, add to it his keen senses and all the modifications I made to his synthetic eye, and you have the perfect spy/assassin."

"Wait a minute! I don't understand this. Are you saying that a few little twinks in his brain gave him telekinesis?" Bucky asked incredulously.

"That's exactly what I'm saying Uncle Bucky. This is the moment where science comes together with religion. Where science and religion speaks the same language."

"I...really don't understand." Bucky deadpanned.

"What she means Buck, is that God created man in his image. These meta humans, inhumans, and some of these aliens, and even these mutants that have appeared recently - they all have these powers because somehow, they have access to higher level functions of their brains, functions that are otherwise sealed off from the normal average human being." Steve started to explain, taking a pause to catch a breathe before continuing with his explanation.

"It is said that even the best of humans only has access to about 14 percent of their brain's capacity. By tempering with this kid's brain, his senses, and his spatial awareness, Lucy must have somehow tapped into one of these higher level functions that are sealed off. She probably can't replicate this...no, she definitely can't replicate this without endangering the life of said human being, which is why she hasn't made another Lancelot. Tempering with the brain is a dangerous game." Steve explained thoroughly.

"Okay...so what does science meeting religion have to do with this?" Bucky asked incredulously.

"You really haven't realised it yet? These mutants, meta humans, enhanced, and inhumans. The abilities that they have, they would have been worshipped as gods had they appeared juts a few hundred years back. And if you think about just what kind of power a human with 100 percent control of their brain could wield, then you can't help but understand the meaning behind God creating us in his image. Of course we would have the potential to wield the same kind of power that he has if he created us in his image, but good luck learning how to access all of it." Steve retorted.

"That's an...interesting way of looking at it. I honestly never thought of it like that." Bucky thought contemplatively, never ceasing to be amazed by how deep and open minded Steve's thought process was.

"Okay okay okay. Let shrink everything down to size shall we. So these guys, they protect Universe Corporations HQ? They are your fail safe should anyone try to invade or infiltrate the facility?" Sam asked curiously.

"Yes. This is the Universe Corporations Elite Guard. All of our research, our products, and our secrets are safe and sound with these four watching over them. Also, I always travel with at least one of them whenever I appear in public, so that they can protect me and stop all assassination attempts on my life." Lucy explained.

"But you can stop all those by yourself." Sam argued with a look of incredule.

"Yes but the rest of the world doesn't know that Sam, nor do they need to." Lucy retorted.

"Oh...oooooh! Damn...!" Was all Sam could say, completely speechless at the genius that was Steve's daughter.

 _'I guess she's not going to tell them about the foot clan just yet. I have to admit it's smart of her to soften them up with these news before the big reveal, and it also buys her enough time to properly set things up with the foot clan, especially when it comes to screening each and every member and associate. After all, we can't afford to have any traitors or wissle blowers in our ranks.'_ Bucky thought analytically, though harboring doubts that she could keep the secret for much longer given how good Steve was at reading people, even without mind raping powers like his girlfriend.

 **End Chapter**

 **UNIVERSE CORPORATIONS ELITE GUARD:**

 **Name:** N/A (Wesley Snipes from Blade movie)

 **Alias:** Blade

 **Race:** Ebony/African American

 **Species:** Enhanced Human

 **Abilities:** Conscious control of otherwise unconscious brain and organ functions, resulting in enhanced physcal and cognitive abilities.

 **Skills:** Military Combat and Weapons Training. Mastery of over 100 martial and weapons arts combat styles. Mastery over spy and espionage techniques.

 **Appearance:** Wears a lot of leather, with a black leather pants and combat boots, a black trench coat and a black body armor with three silver plated metal buckles at the front. Carries a sword made from a strong metal rivaling even vibranium, a metal known as promethium. Also carries advanced projectile weapons (guns) and other hidden weapons. Also skilled in biological and strategic warfare.

 **Extra Info:** Loyal to a fault to Lucy Rogers and the Universe cause, of just and noble mind, and can be described as the silent type. Prefers the use of his promethium sword more than anything else, but excellent in all forms of combat.

 **Name:** Gazelle (Sofia Boutella from the movie Kingsmen)

 **Alias:** N/A

 **Race:** Caucasian

 **Species:** Enhanced Human

 **Abilities:** Enhance Neural Synaps, super human speed and reaction time, **High Intelligence, Superhuman Strength**

 **and Agility, Blade-Equipped Prosthetic**

 **Legs, incredibly skilled martial-artist,**

 **superb dexterity and athleticism**

 **Skills:** Technological Engineer, Master Martial and Weapons artist, incredible assination and combat abilities, skilled in torture and interogation, skilled bodyguard and security detail.

 **Favored Weapon:** Vibranium Arms and Prosthetics with Vibranium retractable blades

 **Appearance:** Beautiful caucasian lady with shoulder length hair styled in a sort of bowl haircut at the front. Slender with a perfect athletic figure. Dress code is semi formal, typically a white shirt without a tie and a black jersey along with black pants that allow for easy movement and flexibility.

 **Extra Info:** Easy going, cheerful, and relaxed, but dead serious and dangerous in combat. Loyal to a fault to Lucy Rogers and the Universe cause. How low degree of concern for the lives of her enemies, in fact, enjoys killing the enemy.

 **Name:** David Rice **(** Hayden Christensen from the Jumper movie)

 **Alias:** Jumper

 **Race:** Caucasian

 **Species:** Enhanced Human

 **Abilities:** magnified spatial awareness, superhuman strength and agility, instantaneous telelportation.

 **Skills:** Martial and Weapons Arsts skill, master swordsmanship, elite gunman.

 **Favored Weapon:** Dwarf Star powered Light Saber

 **Appearance:** Often dresses formally, and typically wears white shirt with black pants, shoes, and a blacktrench coat, sometimes a white version of the outfit. Short blonde hair and a very handsome face.

 **Extra Info:** Unhealthy hate for hydra, but loyal to Lucy Rogers and the Universe cause.

 **Name:** Gary Unswin

 **Alias:** Eggsy/Lancelot

 **Race:** Caucasian

 **Species:** Enhanced Human

 **Abilities:** enhanced spatial awareness, light telekenesis

 **Skills:** espionage and assasination, master spy, elite combat abillities, master of weapons and hand to hand combat, able to bend bullets in motion and anticipate threats from all possible angles.

 **Favored Weapon:** Ballers (twin pair of guns)

 **Appearance:** Teenager with short dirty blonde hair. Often dressed in formal wear, that being an expensive suit and tie. Handsome young man, always wearing modified glasses (same as the ones Steve Rogers wore on his lunch date with Wonder Woman).

 **Extra Info:** Always carries an umbrella, suspected to be a modified and weaponized umbrella.

 **Mine in Pluto:**

The mine is literally found in the uninhabited planet of Pluto, which happens to have an embarassment of rare and valuable metals such as Vibranium, Promethium, Adamantium, Titanium, and Dwarf Star. The planet is inhabited by Sonny sentries whose job is to mine the the rare raw materials for Universe Corporations and to develop it as an Galactical Base for Universe Corporations.

It is meant to later aid Universe in protecting not just the innocent people of planet earth, but those of the whole galaxy and eventually, the whole universe. The only way to get to the Pluto base is via the teleportation machine and having access to the exact co-ordinates.

No one outside of Steve Rogers, Wanda Maximoff, Bucky Barnes, Lucy Rogers, and Sonny, and now Sam Wilson know about this mine, not even Kickass, The Flash, Arrow, or Batman. It is probably the most well kept secret in the world.

 **Final Note:**

Okay guys that's it. Yes, I changed Blade's background because that whole vampires thing doesn't quite fly for me. I mean, I love the movie Blade, it's one of my favorites, but I just can't see Captain America existing in the same world as Blade and his vampire enemies. It just...doesn't seem right. So I changed almost everything about him, hope yaw'll aren't too angry about that.

If you watched Jumper and Kingsmen: Secret Service, then you know who Gazelle, Eggsy, and David Rice are. Sure I changed a few things about them, but not enough for them not to be recognisable I hope. Personally I think it's smart of Lucy to develop a unit to protect their investments while the heroes are out doing their thing, and it also shows the important role the women closest to Cap are playing in his life and the development of Universe.

Anyway, in the next chapter there will be a bit of a focus on the after effects of Universe's Bucky's recent visit to Wakanda and Cap getting confronted by the Justice Society of National City, and things are about to pick up momentum with Cap will be getting closer to coming out as Captain Universe.


End file.
